Eight Years Time
by Kazzy
Summary: At age eleven, Beth’s father decides its time she went to stay with her grandma. However fate is about to throw everyone a surprise. New Chapter: “Unlicensed time travel.”
1. Chapter 1

**Spoilers – **Anything up to _Parting of the Ways_**  
Category –**Angst, Drama, a little Action and a little Romance  
**Summary – **At age eleven, Beth's father decides its time she went to stay with her grandma. This is not something that makes Beth happy. She likes her grandma, but life in London, 2017, is nothing compared to travelling on the TARDIS. However fate is about to throw them all a surprise.  
**Disclaimer – **Can I have TARDIS? Just for a bit? No? All right. I don't own _Doctor Who_, or its associated themes and characters.  
**Notes – **Hi! This is being updated as a present for a friend. With any luck I might actually finish the damn thing!

**WARNING: **_this was started well before "The Christmas Invasion", well before Tennant appeared on screen as the Tenth Doctor in anything other than the final moments of "Parting of the Ways"._ Much of it was written in the time between up until the start and just into Series Two. As such it is now so wildly AU it isn't funny. More AU than I am usually comfortable with in fact.

Just a few notes:

The Doctor and Rose returned to Satellite Five for Jack

Jack is not immortal

Everything else should be self-explanatory

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Beth's mother had died when she was two and a half. Since then it had only been her father, her Uncle Jack, and herself on board the TARDIS. She could vaguely remember another presence, a soft one, beautiful with a smile just like Beth's, her sung her to sleep every night.

Beth's father said he hadn't known that her mother could sing until Beth was born. Then he'd discovered that she'd had a voice to rival the Sirens of Haijanas, the most beautiful singers in all of time and space. He was always so sad when he spoke of his wife, but he did so whenever Beth asked because he said she should never forget.

Not having a mother had never really bothered Beth that much. Sometimes she wished she could have someone who understood girl things – someone other than her grandma, who was always fussing about something – someone other than Uncle Jack to tuck her in at night – his stories were are little strange. It would be very nice, Beth thought, to have someone who would give her a hug whenever she wanted one, and would make her tea so they could talk about their day. She could always go to her dad, but somehow Beth got the feeling it just wasn't the same.

Most of the time, though, she was all right, travelling through the universe, through time, with her dad and uncle. She knew she got to see things that other kids her age – in any time or place – didn't. Then there was the TARDIS, which even though Beth had lived there for nearly eleven years, always had somewhere new to explore.

She had a good life, and she knew it, so one night when she got up to get herself a drink of water, she was surprised to hear her dad and uncle arguing in the kitchen about her. The arguing wasn't all that strange, they did that from time to time, and Uncle Jack had once left for a few months because they had been fighting too much. It was what they were fighting about that bothered her.

"She's growing up, Jack."

"I know, children have a tendency to that, sometimes," she could almost hear Uncle Jack roll his eyes as he often did at the Doctor when they argued. "Look, Doctor, you can't just send her away—"

"She'll be a teenager soon."

"Again, that is not exactly surprising, Doctor." Beth had secretly being looking forward to being a teenager. "But—"

"Yes, but have you ever thought about what it might mean having a teenage girl aboard the TARDIS with only her father and her uncle for company?"

There was a long pause, where Jack seemed to be trying to work through what the Doctor was saying to him. In the corridor, Beth was confused, not understanding – what was wrong with being a teenager on TARDIS, surely the ship herself wouldn't care, right? And who was her Dad sending away, the only girl aboard was Beth…

"You mean puberty?" Jack asked.

"I really think Beth should go live with Jackie for a few years," he sounded unhappy, but Beth was too upset to hear that, too upset to react. He couldn't send her away, could he?

"You can't do that to her, Doctor. TARDIS is her home." Uncle Jack's answer, pretty much covered Beth's reaction.

"Not for long, just a few years, until she's fifteen, maybe sixteen." To a ten-year-old Beth that was a long, long way away.

"What makes you think she'd be better off with Jackie?"

"Other than she's a woman? Beth needs a mother." Beth didn't need a mother. Beth sometimes _wanted _a mother, but she had never_needed_ one.

"Do you really want to leave your daughter with Jackie?" Jack asked, and Beth could hear him starting to waver. He uncle quite liked her grandmother, and was always the one to take Beth to see her, while the Doctor usually stayed away. Beth quite liked her grandmother too, but she didn't want to live with her, she was happy where she was.

"No!" she screamed and rushed in to confront her father. "I won't go and live with Grandma! I want to live here on the TARDIS with you!!"

"Beth—"

"No! You can't make me!" she backed away from her father when he started towards her. "I'll hide!" she threatened. "And you'll never find me!" Beth was sure she could, too. TARDIS was a big place.

"Beth—"

"No!" she shouted and then turned to run out the door, and make good on her threat. Strong arms grasped her before she could get through the door, and she was pulled around to see her Uncle Jack, his forehead wrinkling into a frown. She fought against him, but Jack was a strong man, and had fought plenty of fights against people much bigger than a ten-year-old girl.

"Sweetheart," he said gently, "maybe we should listen to your dad. He doesn't often steer us wrong."

Beth sniffed and grudgingly nodded, but made no attempt to look at her father, instead staring at the floor by his feet. The feet moved forwards, but Beth moved back until she bumped into Uncle Jack, so the feet stopped.

"Beth. You're growing up—"

"So?" she snapped.

"So, in a few years you're going to want a…woman to talk with things about."

"What things?" Beth asked suspiciously.

"Woman…things." Her dad sounded funny, and Beth risked a glance up to gauge his features. He was making a face, and looking down at the linoleum. "Jack and I aren't very good at that."

"Speak for yourself," Jack said, his hands resting on Beth's shoulders. She glanced up at him, and could see the smile her grandma always referred to as 'roguish' on his face.

"Jack," her dad said warningly. It was one of those things that Beth didn't understand yet, but had something to do with the long string of girlfriends and boyfriends that Uncle Jack had everywhere, or the people who occasionally stumbled out of the TARDIS when it stayed overnight anywhere.

The Doctor turned back to his daughter, this time coming and standing right in front of her, putting his hands on her arms. "Beth. I know you don't want to go. I don't want you to go, but it'd only be for a little bit. You'll want your grandmother around, there'll be questions you have—"

"I can look them up in the library," she told him stubbornly.

"Not these ones." He reached up and stroked her hair away from her face.

"I don't want to go."

"I know, but it'd only be for a little bit," he repeated.

"Don't make me go away, Daddy," she said starting to sob.

Her Dad pulled her into his arms and held her tight, stroking her back. "I am sorry, my love, I'm so sorry." Neither noticed when Jack left the room, the Doctor just stayed there rubbing his daughter's back and rocking her slightly in the middle of the kitchen.

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	2. Chapter 2

**Summary – **At age eleven, Beth's father decides its time she went to stay with her grandma. This is not something that makes Beth happy. She likes her grandma, but life in London, 2017, is nothing compared to travelling on the TARDIS. However fate is about to throw them all a surprise.

**Disclaimer – **Can I have TARDIS? Just for a bit? No? All right. I don't own _Doctor Who_, or its associated themes and characters.

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Two weeks later, the three of them were on their way to drop Beth at her grandmother's where she was going to live for the next few years. The length of time had yet to be determined, and ultimately the Doctor had felt that they'd give it two years and revaluate. Ideally, he would leave her there until she was closer to the age her mother had been when she started travelling, but he didn't think he could bear to leave Beth that long.

They had all spent ten days on Treathen in the year 67,657, a well-known family getaway. The holiday could have been more fun, would have been more fun, if the journey at the end hadn't been hanging over them. The resort they had stayed at had been exquisite, with plenty of things to amaze even a well-travelled child like Beth. The girl was true to her mother's nature and loved to see all of the wonders the universe had to offer, but this time they seemed to fall strangely flat on her.

To be honest neither Jack nor the Doctor had seemed to be able to gather up the strength to be enthusiastic for her. The pair felt they were losing the bright centre to their unusual family.

The experience wasn't all bad; there were a few good moments. The Treathen fire-dancers for one. These dancers had fire-proof skin and wore suits that were largely made from flame. For that hour, Beth's face had been lit up with delight, utterly absorbed in the performance. As always though the Doctor had asked himself what her mother would have thought. Sometimes he still missed Rose so much it hurt. Mother and daughter were so alike it was uncanny.

Jack stayed by Beth constantly on the trip, spoiling her beyond anything he had ever done before, despite the girl's somewhat listless response. Normally, the fifty-first century man would disappear with a partner for a bit, and have some fun of his own. The pickings might be a little slim here, being a family resort, but there were plenty of single parents, open-minded pairings, and staff who would have had the ex-Time Agent in a second. He'd had more than one offer, but he'd turned them all down to spend his time with Beth. The Doctor got the feeling that the other guests here had started to think that he and Jack were an exclusive couple. Of course that was about as far from the truth as you could get, but from these people's point of view it was understandable.

Jack and Beth had been best friends since the day she had been born. He'd decided, along with her parents, that she was the most perfect creature to ever exist. He worshipped the ground she walked, and gave her everything she asked for, every inch the doting uncle. While her father could be intractable at times, if it were at all possible Jack would find a way. There was no way around this, though, and guilt was now showing its effects. Beth couldn't so much as breathe in peace, without her uncle hovering over her. The Doctor practically had to drag him out of her room at night to stop him sitting there watching her. Not that the Doctor could blame the other man, he didn't exactly want to leave his daughter's side either.

Normally, the girl would have tried to escape her suddenly over-protective guardians, and do some exploring on her own – she had the same nose for trouble her mother did. This time she seemed almost as unwillingly to leave her father and uncle as they were to leave her.

Finally, though, their holiday came to an end, and they packed up into the TARDIS to head for London, 2017. If all went according to plan they would land early spring. Jackie had promised to arrange a school for Beth, who she was thrilled to be having. Jack and the Doctor would stay a couple of days and then would come back regularly for holidays, special occasions and whenever they felt like it really.

TARDIS landed near to Jackie's apartment and the three of them had dinner together, and Jack's crack about the last supper fell flat. Beth had barely spoken all day and refused to look her father in the eye. Anger and betrayal rolled off her in waves, letting him know it would be a good long while before he was forgiven. The Doctor wanted to gather her into his arms, pull her close and promise her he would never leave her, but that wasn't fair on the poor girl. In the next few years, she really would need someone to talk about things that he and Jack might be a little less than knowledgeable about. Jackie, as much as the Doctor hated to admit it, would be able to help Beth in a way he could not.

Finally, they made the trek up to Beth's grandmother's apartment. The way was very familiar to the Doctor, as he had come here many times through the years, and as he walked up, holding his daughter's limp hand for comfort, glad she hadn't pulled away, he reflected back on them.

The day after Henrick's had been blown up, he'd come up here, looking for the Auton's arm and found Rose, and then found himself unable to leave her. The day he and Rose had come to announce to her mother she was pregnant. The day he'd had to come to tell Jackie that he had done the unthinkable – lost her daughter. Now he was going to give up the most wonderful thing in his life.

Beside him, as they climbed the stairs, Beth sniffled, trying hard not to cry. Now her fingers were gripping on to the Doctor's tightly. She dragged her feet so much that Jack reached the top before father and daughter were even half way up. Usually, she bounded up these stairs eager to see her grandmother, who also doted on her.

Jack was the one who knocked on the door when the Doctor and Beth seemed disinclined to do so, and moments later it swung open to reveal a very excited Jackie. The older woman seemed to be filled with a nervous energy that went beyond having her granddaughter to stay.

"You have to come in," she said practically dragging the three of them over the threshold. "You have to come into the living room."

They followed her willingly, but the Doctor felt trepidation begin to rise in him. Therefore, he was unsurprised to see someone sitting on the chair, her favourite one, the one she had always used when she visited her mum's. For a moment, the Doctor was awash with the sense of déjà vu, as though he had accidentally come back too far.

But then he managed to get a good look at the woman. She was older than the last time he had seen her. There were more few more wrinkles in the corner of her eyes, a few more worry lines on her forehead. Her hair was shorter, and her clothes a little more conservatively cut than they had been; the fashion, though, he noted was late 54th century. The era he'd last seen her. The era she had died in.

She had died. There was no way she could be here. He had seen her die. There was no way she could be here.

Beth's fingers were now almost painfully tight around his own, as if she too didn't believe who was in front of them.

The woman rose, and when she spoke the voice was so familiar it sent knives stabbing through his hearts. "Hello," Rose Tyler said softly, simply.

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	3. Chapter 3

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Jack seemed to lack both the Doctor and his daughter's sudden paralysis, and had no doubts about the identity of the woman in front of them. With a glad cry, he flew across the room and grabbed Rose in a bear hug. He lifted her off her feet, and swung her around, both of them laughing and crying at the same time.

Once she had been released, Rose's eyes met the Doctor's and she took the few nervous steps left to stand in front of him. He stood stock-still and Rose looked at him, for long moments. He remembered that look, and it pierced him to his very soul.

"Doctor," she whispered, as if she were having trouble believing it herself, then without warning, she flung herself at him. Instinctively, his arms went around hers, pulling her close to him. Unbidden joy sprung up somewhere inside of him, a sort of wild happiness born of disbelief. Her body was a little thinner, but it was very much the same as he remembered it. She smelled the same as she always had, sweet and warm. Everything in him screamed that this was his Rose, and he began to believe.

"Rose, oh Rose!" his eyes burned and tears spilled over as he realised she really was in front of him. She held him tightly for several long moments, before pulling back and searched his face before offering him a tremulous smile. "How?" he whispered.

"I'll tell you soon, I promise," she said, and then turned to see Beth.

The girl had been waiting quietly behind her father. She couldn't help but notice who had arrived, who this woman was, but her face gave nothing away. Her eyes quietly watched Rose. In a face that was usually so expressive, the blankness was unnerving. Rose, the Doctor could see, was picking up on this.

"Bethany," she whispered, her tone reverent. He knew she wanted to touch her daughter, but he also knew she could see that Beth would be uncomfortable with that. Tears spilled over Rose's cheeks. "You're so beautiful."

"I don't remember you," Beth said.

Rose's eyes shut, and pain passed briefly across her features, but she didn't recoil the way she might have eight years ago. The Doctor was surprised by this reaction, but then eight years was a long time for anyone, and longer for a human. It had been the eight longest years of his life, he didn't want to think what Rose had been through.

Beth seemed to realise her comment might have been thoughtless or hurtful, so she stepped back a little and said, "Everyone said you were dead."

"They weren't far wrong, I think." She turned her head to look at the room in general, "Perhaps we should talk about this."

Rose returned to her chair. Jack happily plonked himself next to her, throwing a wink towards Beth, grinning broadly. The Doctor sat across from Rose, on the couch, with Beth beside him, her hand creeping into his again, leaning against him, she was trembling slightly. Jackie had gone to the kitchen ostensibly to make some tea.

All eyes were on Rose, and she sat up straight, displaying more poise than he'd ever seen in her before. She didn't speak until her mother returned, taking her tea quietly, sipping it before taking a deep breath to begin her story.

Rose didn't know how she survived the blast that everyone had assumed killed her. She remembered making her decision to return to the building to search for those who had not come out, but she didn't remember entering it. The first thing she could remember was waking up in a hospital in 5378, with no knowledge about who she was, or where she was from, or as it turned out, _when_ she was from.

For nearly two years, she had wandered through her new life, trying to move on, but always knowing she was missing something. Then she had begun to make contacts with the Time Agents (Jack's breath hissed sharply at this, and Rose gave him a sad look, but continued). For a while, nothing had turned up, Rose had gained a few memories – that the last human was named Cassandra, that Earth had once been saved by a servant girl – but nothing that helped. Finally, the name came to her one day 'Jack Harkness'. That had been a breakthrough, although no one knew it at the time.

The name had been run through the databases as a routine by one of her contacts, no one was expecting anything. So they were surprised then when the name belonged to a former Time Agent who had gone rogue. More surprising was that Rose actually remembered him. Furthermore, she could definitely identify his companion the Doctor, to the point she knew she had a child with him. However, to everyone's disappointment, she could not identify any information that would locate these people. Lastly, with all the information on Jack Harkness had been one last thin file, on a woman known only as 'Rose'. The only information in that file was that she was female, and had eventuated from Earth, somewhere between the 20th and the 23rd centuries, and a picture had been included.

In a situation that Rose did not detail, her main contact had been killed, and from the way she spoke, it had angered her enough to completely destroy any tentative trust she might have had in the Time Agents. She had stolen a ship from them (the Doctor leaned back in surprise, and Jack let out a low whistle, that was quite a feat, even for Rose), and fled hopping through time, hoping to find where she was from, hoping to connect with her old life.

A month earlier, in the year 354,798 Rose had found a woman specialising in the memory who claimed to bring any memory back to a person. The therapy had only been partially successful, with Rose being able to draw on a larger amount of memories than before, but the majority of them had been of her earlier life, before she had met the Doctor. Finally, she had an identity and she and her stolen ship had returned to Earth, early twenty-first century to her mother's in the hopes that from there she would finally locate her former travelling companions and her daughter. It would seem that things had fallen into place.

Rose finally took a deep breath, settling back into her chair, looking weary.

The Doctor frowned. He appreciated the hell Rose had been through, but there were huge noticeable gaps in her narrative. He mentioned this, and she closed her eyes.

"I know," she whispered. "But I don't know how to tell—" her face went blank as her eyes slid to the door.

Everyone turned to look, and were shocked to see a small boy maybe four- to five-years-old standing in the doorway. He was wearing blue pyjamas, had red hair, a sprinkling of freckles and an upturned nose. He was looking directly at Rose.

"Mum," he said, "what's going on?"

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	4. Chapter 4

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Rose introduced Kelan, her son, pulling him into her lap, and telling him the names of the other people in the room. He was a smart boy; not like his sister, who was after all, part Time Lord, but intelligent and quick – he would recognise the names. She saved Beth for last, because that was the one he had always wanted to meet the most.

Kelan didn't disappoint. As soon as she introduced Beth, he studied the girl with interest. "My sister?" he asked Rose.

"Yes," she told him, ignoring Beth's horrified look, Jack's startled one, and the grim acceptance of the Doctor. In these last eight years, she had moved on, she had become someone else. She had made her family. Since they were all still waiting for more explanations, Rose sighed. Kelan and herself had been travelling for days, she just wanted to rest, but knew now was the time. Briefly, she acknowledged to herself that she was growing old; once she could have done this no problem at all.

Kelan settled against her, curling close. She wrapped one arm around him protectively, and used the other to brush his hair away from his forehead.

"Well," she said, "this is the other part of what I had to tell you. I wanted to wait until we'd all had some rest. Kelan is my son. He's five-years-old. His father is the Time Agent I was talking about. Weston Bradley. We were married—" she couldn't bring herself to look up at the Doctor or Beth— "and had Kelan.

"It was actually Kelan's birth that gave me back the first part of my memories. They were of you, Beth." She risked a glance at her daughter. There was no forgiveness from the girl, but she was looking at Rose with big, wide eyes.

_ i Weston woke sometime in the night to find his bed empty. He supposed it wasn't to be unexpected, not with a brand new baby in the house. Nevertheless, he went to find his wife, to make sure was all right. It was still less than twenty-four hours since his son's birth, and he was feeling fussy and over-protective._

_Jane, his wife with no past, was sitting in the nursery, Kelan in her hands, staring down at him, her face a mixture of love, awe and shock. Worried, Weston approached her chair, and crouched beside her, looking up into the most perfect face he had ever seen._

"_Jane, what's wrong?"_

"_I have a daughter," he barely caught the whisper, it was so faint, and was sure he must have heard her wrong._

"_What?"_

"_I have a daughter, her name is Beth," she repeated her voice cold with shock. Iciness raced down Weston's spine as he realised what his wife was saying. Another piece of the puzzle of the woman known as Jane Doe._

_Gently, he put the baby back in his crib, and then walked back to his wife and pulled her to him, to give her as much comfort as possible. /i _

"That one memory was like a trigger, after that train of memories unfolded and both Weston and I hoped that one day it'd be something we could use to find my past. That was where I remembered the name Jack Harkness." She gave the man beside her a long look, and she could tell he was surprised.

What had happened was she was standing in the kitchen one day, and looked up and said to her infant son. 'Jack Harkness, I know you. You were there.' She had no idea where he had been, but she knew he was important.

"We assumed you were a nobody," she told him apologetically. "At least no one we would find information on – in all of time and space… But then Weston had them search the databases, just in case. This search had brought up a big thick file," that had later been found to be incomplete.

"There were references to another folder. That folder held the secrets of a man known as the Doctor," she gave the Doctor a sympathetic smile, as he looked startled. He had known that people throughout space were looking out for him, but she reflected he probably had no idea just how much the Time Agents knew.

"I looked at you Doctor, and I knew. I remembered you. I remembered Henrick's, TARDIS, the day Beth was born… not much more. Everything is so fragmented…" tears of frustration burned in her eyes, and she blinked it back.

There were so many things she couldn't remember that she should: Beth's first smile, her first words, first steps, the sound of her laughter, the way the Doctor's hand fit into hers, the first time he had kissed her, making love to him. Despite Jack being able to release so many memories, she barely remembered him at all. She knew he had been her best friend, and that he could make her laugh, but she couldn't remember why.

"At the back of the file there was a picture of me, and that little bit of information." Rose shook her head. Compared to the Doctor and Jack, she had been a non-event. Frustrating at the time, but ultimately it would probably be better for her. The less they knew, the less they could track. "I had a name, but not a lot else to work on. There are a lot of Roses in those four centuries on Earth."

"Two years ago, things started to go wrong. A number of Time Agents had been accused of stealing technology to sell to earlier times—" the very thing they were meant to be preventing. Rose could see the Doctor and Jack nodding, and realised that they may have run across some of the same agents. Or someone else, it was a common enough crime; just the scale had been bigger this time.

"Weston was put on the case." She made a face as she began to trespass on the more painful memories. "He was so angry. Once they found out I was a possible time traveller, they made me a case and he was in charge of that. He didn't want to be doing something else. After a while it made him jumpy, always looking over his shoulder."

Rose closed her eyes for a second, garnering the courage to keep speaking. They needed to know how far this went, but it was so hard. The only relief was that Kelan had drifted to sleep against her shoulder. He didn't need to hear this.

"Six months in he was killed. His killer was never found, but that doesn't mean anything. He was killed to silence him, I'm sure." She couldn't quite keep the venom out of her voice. Weston had been a good person. A good husband and a fantastic father, his death was wrong on so many levels. "Then someone – I don't know who he was, I've never seen him before – gave me a letter. Just walked up one day and put it in my hands from Weston. It told me all of his suspicions, and how to steal a ship. Also that there were a lot of files he had copied for me to take – everything he knew that was connected to my case."

"I broke into secure facility, found the ship and left, diving straight into time. For a long time, Kelan and I just wandered, not really looking for anything, just trying to escape. Eventually though, I decided to try and find you, and what really happened. The rest is history."

Rose sat back, finally finished, and exhausted. Dredging up those memories hadn't been pleasant; there were a lot of nightmares there to face. She buried her head in her hands, curling her body around Kelan's. Her son was the only spot of sanity she'd had in the last eighteen months, the one person that had kept her anchored as she had raced about trying to figure out who she was and how she could kill the ones responsible for her husband's death.

Vaguely, she was aware of someone coming to crouch in front of her, and she lifted her head to look blearily at the Doctor. He took her hands in his, twining their fingers. His eyes were heavy with sympathy, love and respect, offering comfort. Rose very nearly took it, used him as a shoulder to cry on, as someone to guide her, but ultimately she couldn't. It had been too long, there was too much that had happened, too much that she didn't remember.

This man had once been her greatest love, her confidant, her soul mate. He had shown her the universe, through time and space. When she lost her memory, the Doctor had still haunted her dreams, leading her on a path of stars. He was as much part of who Rose Tyler was as Rose herself.

Yet, she could not bring herself to lean on him, not now, not yet, maybe not for a long time. Because she was not Rose Tyler, not really. She was still Jane Doe, Jane Bradley. Rose was her other self, malformed and incomplete.

Rose tightened her fingers around his, thanking him with her eyes for what he was willing to give her, even if she could not take the gift. He grazed his lips across the back of her hand in a gesture of respect and honour, then released her hands to her, and stood. Rose sat back, shifting Kelan into a slightly more comfortable position.

"Perhaps we should all have some rest, and discuss this more tomorrow," the Doctor said. And with that declaration everyone shifted slightly, stirring from the positions that they had been held in for well over an hour now. "Maybe then we can look at Rose's information." Rose nodded in agreement.

Beth looked dumbstruck, disbelieving. Rose felt sympathy for her, wished she could some how make it easier for her, but there was no way to make this better. Still the girl looked back over her shoulder at Rose with a long, sad look as her father ushered her out the door to the TARDIS for the night.

Rose looked down at her son, about to wake him up to get him back to bed. He looked so peaceful asleep like that. A little angel.

"Here, let me take him," Rose looked up gratefully as Jack scooped the little boy into his arms. Kelan was past the age where she could carry him on her own, not without disturbing him, anyway.

Jack carried Kelan down to the room that had once been Rose's but now carried obvious signs of having been used by Beth on a regular basis. There was a camp bed on the floor for Kelan, while Rose used her old bed. Jack placed Kelan on the bed and deftly tucked him in.

Then he pulled her into a tight embrace. Rose accepted it without thinking, hugging him back. He kissed her forehead. "I'm so glad to have you back, Rose."

"I've missed you Jack. I don't always know why I missed you, but I did."

"Of course you did, how could you not miss me?"

Rose laughed and pushed him out the door. "I'll see you in the morning."

"You can count on that, sweetheart!"

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	5. Chapter 5

**Summary – **At age eleven, Beth's father decides its time she went to stay with her grandma. This is not something that makes Beth happy. She likes her grandma, but life in London, 2017, is nothing compared to travelling on the TARDIS. However fate is about to throw them all a surprise.

**Disclaimer – **Can I have TARDIS? Just for a bit? No? All right. I don't own _Doctor Who_, or its associated themes and characters.

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Rose woke with the certain sensation that there was something wrong. She lay there quietly for a moment, taking stock of the situation. There were no sounds from the apartment, though judging by the glowing alarm clock, her mother should be up and moving round about now.

When she slipped out of bed, she checked on Kelan. He was still sound asleep, his peaceful breathing a balm to Rose's damaged heart. The night had been long and haunted by dreams that she couldn't quite remember. At least Kelan was all right, that was one peace of mind she could give herself.

Without making a sound, Rose crept down the hall to the main room. Inside, a woman had her mother pinned to the wall with a gun. Jackie's eyes were wide with fear as her gaze slid silently to Rose in the doorway. Rose pressed a finger to her lips, and moved forward soundlessly.

The woman was dressed head to toe in black. She wore a mask to protect her identity, but on her shoulder was the insignia of the Time Agents. Rose's hands found a vase on her way over, and she shattered it over the Agent's head. The woman cried out and crumpled to the floor, temporarily stunned. Rose stomped on the Agent, breaking her jaw. She ripped the gun from the other woman's hands and slammed it down, knocking her unconscious.

Oh yes, Rose had picked up a few skills in the years that had passed. They hadn't been expecting that, but they should have known better.

Rose offered her mother a hand up off the floor, and Jackie accepted it, her eyes wide, her frame shaking. A movement in the corridor brought Rose into a defensive position, newly acquired gun whipping up to meet the new threat. A man also covered from head to toe in black, wearing Time Agent insignia stepped through the door, but when he did, Rose's heart leapt to her throat.

Under one arm, this new agent was holding a terrified Kelan, and he held a gun to the boy's head. Rose nearly staggered in fear. Not Kelan! Not her little boy!

"Jane Bradley you are asked to surrender. I am here to arrest you under the Time Piracy Act for the theft of one Time Agent ship and classified information. Come quietly, and I'll leave the child," he said.

There was no choice, what could she do? She recognised the voice, and knew it belonged to a particularly vicious Agent, named Teller Slade. If Slade thought she was going to resist arrest, he would shoot her son. Carefully, she placed the gun on the floor, and stepped forward, hands out stretched in surrender. A distracted incompetent she could handle, but this was not something she could get out of without endangering Kelan.

Slade stepped back, and Rose nearly protested, but another agent stepped into the room to cuff her. At this Jackie started to say something.

Rose stopped her, "It's all right, Mum. I can handle this. They don't have any proof that I've done anything."

"We just need to find that ship, and we'll have proof," snapped Slade.

"Yeah, good luck with that," Rose told him. "A bit hard to find an invisible ship if you don't know where it is."

"Is that an admission of guilt?"

Rose looked at him. "Of course not. Now put my son down, Slade." If he was surprised she knew who he was, he didn't react.

"Can't do that, Bradley." The Agent who had cuffed Rose raised a small metal tube to her neck. She felt a slight pinch and the world dissolved away. The last thing she was aware of was her mother's cry of fear and outrage.

-x-x-x-

Beth didn't answer when her father knocked on her door the next morning, and when he stuck his head in her door, he found that her covers were thrown back, and her pyjamas scattered carelessly on the floor. Nothing unusual there – his daughter was a slob. He headed down to the kitchen and found that empty too, but there was a note on the refrigerator from Jack.

_We've gone to get some cornflakes, be back in ten minutes._

He smiled to himself; the pair of them were funny about their breakfast cereals, going out of their way to make sure to get the ones that tasted the best. They all tasted like sawdust to him. The Doctor relaxed slightly, but still felt a little edgy. It was probably just the whole Rose thing, though.

Rose. His Rose. Back from the dead. And so different from the bright girl he remembered, the shinning young woman he had fallen in love with. He suspected she was still there somewhere, just eclipsed by the events of the past eight years.

She had been married to another man, now that was hard to swallow. She'd had a child with that man, slept next to him every night, loved him. Then she'd had to grieve for him. The Doctor, more than anyone, knew how that felt, the sudden loss and the desperate need to fill the emptiness. Last night he had seen the hunger in her eyes, the anger, the need to strike out in revenge. He couldn't blame her, and he knew he would help her, not least because it seemed that all of them were involved in this.

After nine centuries of life, to find out some annoying, nosy humans were chasing him was alarming. People knowing about him was nothing new, but he couldn't shake the feeling that this was something more sinister. Something potentially destructive.

With a jolt he realised he'd been musing over his thoughts for nearly twenty minutes, and Jack and Beth were not back yet. Normally, he wouldn't worry because they both were easily distracted, but with as uneasy he had been feeling, he decided to go and see if they were coming.

Outside of the TARDIS, he couldn't see anyone for a moment. Then Jack rounded a corner. He was limping badly, there was a cut above his left eye, and a red mark on the side of his chin that would probably turn into a nasty bruise. His left sleeve was soaked with blood, and the arm hung useless at his side. The Doctor ran forward and caught Jack as he stumbled.

Jack looked up at the Doctor wide-eyed. "Time Agents. Surprised us. Have Beth."

The Doctor didn't need to hear anymore, he was off heading in the direction Jack had come, following the trail of blood. When that ran out, by a bag with a squashed box of cornflakes, he trusted his instincts and kept on running.

Incongruously, beside a swing set in a park, a large ship was parked. No one seemed to notice, but then early on a Sunday no one was likely to. There were four Time Agents clustered around. One held a struggling Kelan, another a limp Rose. A third stood at the top of the ramp to the ship and a fourth directing the others.

"Do you have the girl?" asked the fourth agent.

"On board," said the one on the ramp.

"Good, get these two aboard, then we can work on Bradley, see what she knows. This rat has been keeping too many secrets for too long. Her husband refused to believed it, but I know the truth."

That was all the Doctor needed to hear. He disabled the agent with Rose, but by the time he could go after Kelan, the boy was already on the ship, and the door was shutting. The ship took off, and the Doctor shouted in frustration. The children were gone.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-


	6. Chapter 6

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Waking up with a splitting headache was not unknown to Jack Harkness. Usually it meant that he'd had a good night. The associated aches and pains running through his body, particularly his arm, indicated that he'd either had an extremely good night, or the kind of night that he wasn't going to want to remember.

He cracked his eyelids, but someone had left the light on, and the searing brightness just about destroyed his retinas. Jack moaned lightly, and decided that it was more than enough time to go back to sleep. Consciousness could wait a few more hours…maybe days.

Unfortunately for him, consciousness had other ideas. "Jack? Are you awake?" Consciousness sounded an awful lot like Rose. Jack wondered when he'd started to hear voices.

"Jack? It's important. Wake up."

He opened his eyes slowly. He was surrounded by white light that was achingly bright, and Rose Tyler was looking down at him, her forehead pulled into a worried frown.

"I'm dead," he decided. There was no other explanation for the situation he was in. It must have been one helluva night.

Rose's forehead tightened further. "No, you're not dead."

"I'm hallucinating, then."

"No."

"Still drunk?"

Rose shook her head. There was something wrong with her. She looked so very sad… Jack tried to collect his scattered thoughts. _Damn, what happened last night?_

"What hit me, then?" he asked confused trying to sort it out in his mind, and wondering why Rose was standing above him when she'd been dead for years. Or had she? Maybe that was the hallucination.

"Actually, you hit the TARDIS," Jack could hear the Doctor's voice, but couldn't see him, and doubted he had the energy to look up so just contented himself with the knowledge that the Doctor was around here somewhere.

"You must have fainted or collapsed in the doorway and hit your head on the way down," Rose filled in, when Jack's mind failed to connect the dots. Sadly, Jack still couldn't connect the dots.

"How many hypervodkas did I have?" he was trying to figure out if it was himself or Rose that was supposed to be dead. Right now he thought he was in too much pain to be dead, but he also considered the fact that with this much pain, he wished he _was_ dead.

"None. Jack don't you remember?" Rose asked, her brow still furrowed.

"Remember what?" Jack had enjoyed a long and happy relationship with hypervodka, he'd be sorry to see it go, but he was rapidly deciding that he needed to give up drinking.

"The Time Agents took Beth," the Doctor said when Rose's eyes filled with tears and she seemed temporarily unable to speak. "And Kelan," the Doctor added as an after thought, a sour note in his voice.

Time Agents had Beth? Kelan? Something clicked into place and Jack was overwhelmed with a nauseating spin of images as the last twelve hours came back to him.

"Hell!" he swore as he swung his legs over the side of the bed in the infirmary. The room twisted and threatened to send whatever had been left in his stomach shooting back up. "Are you sure no one spiked the hypervodka?"

"Jack! There was no vodka!"

"More's pity."

The Doctor had appeared and was guiding Jack back on to the bed to lean against the pillows, while Rose hovered nervously in the background, wringing her hands. Her eyes were darting about, as if she wasn't quite comfortable with the surroundings yet. It had been a long time since she had been on the TARDIS, and it was obviously bothering her.

Propped up against the pillows, Jack felt lazy and filled with nervous energy. Beth had been taken, the last thing he wanted to do was lie around in the TARDIS infirmary, but the room was spinning enough that he knew he wouldn't get very far if he tried to move. Neither was the stabbing pain running though his skull helping much.

"Why did the Time Agents take Beth and Kelan?" he could remember being surprised by three of them. He had taken out one, but the other two had managed to slow him down enough to get to Beth. A good girl, she had fought and kicked and bit, but she wasn't strong enough to get free, and Jack couldn't get to her in time. Then he'd been shot.

"I don't know," said the Doctor. He turned and looked over at Rose, who was ghostly pale, then back at Jack. "You're the only one I know, and you—" he said to Rose— "were married to one." The word _married _had the faintest overture of distaste. For a man who had a possessive streak a mile-wide, it was a very tame reaction, but Jack figure that the Doctor was a little distracted now.

"No idea," Jack said. If the thumping inside his skull wasn't quite so bad, he might have been able to focus better.

"Slade was arresting me for stealing information and a ship. He used Kelan to get me to surrender. He held a gun to my son's head!" she spat, her eyes flashing.

Jack couldn't quite contain the low whistle that settled on his lips. "Slade? You sure that's all you took, Rose? You must be important to them." Jack had heard of Teller Slade by reputation only. The man had an impressive record, but there were also darker tales that said he was willing to go after what he wanted, no holds barred, and he'd mow down anyone in the way to get it.

Rose's lips thinned, her eyes flashing all the more. Slade better watch his back, because Jack didn't fancy the other man's chances when faced with an angry Rose. Not to mention a pissed-off Doctor.

"Slade hates me," Rose continued. "He thinks I made up everything to spy on the Time Agents through Weston. He's called me a 'lying bitch' to my face more than once. The children were probably taken as a bargaining chip, to get me to talk. Now, he'll use them as bait and hostages."

Jack nodded to himself, ignoring the way it made his vision turn in all sorts of directions. That matched with what he knew about Slade. The man wouldn't hesitate to torture them either, if he thought it would get him closer to what he was searching for. Jack's stomach turned and he groped wildly around; there was a basin here somewhere for the rounds of childhood-illnesses that Beth had through the years.

One appeared in front of him, and he emptied what very little was left in his stomach into it. The Doctor took back the basin, a disgusted look on his face. Jack didn't blame him – did he think it was pleasant on this end of things? Rose passed Jack a glass of water and Jack swallowed the cool, refreshing liquid, washing away the remaining taste of bile in his mouth.

His headache had reached epic proportions, and he let his eyes drift shut.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes –** I've raised the rating for this chapter. It gets a little violent and Beth hurts herself.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

_Someone was stroking her hair, helping her to sit up, encouraging her to swallow a cool liquid. She tried to open her eyes, but when she did, all she could see was a confusing swirl of green and purple._

_The liquid eased the burn in her throat, and she drank it thirstily, but every time she tried to gulp, it was pulled back with a warning._

"_No, no, little one, drink slowly."_

_She tried to tell the voice she was thirsty, but her mouth couldn't form words, and the cup was brought back to her mouth._

_Finally, she lay back down, and drifted back into a deep sleep. Just realising before she did so, that someone was pushing something into the pocket of her jeans._

-x-x-x-  
Beth woke up to someone crying. It wasn't a loud crying, just a soft sniffling and the occasional hitched breath, but it was crying nonetheless. Whoever it was must have been very sad.

When she opened her eyes she was in a small, strange room with metal cuffs on that attached her hands to the wall. She was lying on a bed with a thin mattress and no pillow. Her body felt strange and floaty and there was an odd sensation in her head, as if it had suddenly been filled with helium gas, like a balloon.

When her eyes could focus properly, she looked around the room for the person who was crying – the sound had been upped to a soft whimper now. The motions of her body were hard to control and it took her a long time to turn her head. She realised that the thick lump in her mouth was her tongue.

Finally though, she was able to look at the other person in her room. He was also attached to the wall, but she could see there were welts on his wrists where he'd tried to pull away. He was curled in a small ball, and his shoulders shook as he cried. He wasn't looking at her at all.

Great, her supposed brother. Fat lot of help he was going to be in escaping. Still, he was all Beth had, and if she was going to get out of this, she was going to need more than just herself. And she was going to get out of this, how else would she see her dad and her grandma again? And her mum?

Beth felt her own eyes fill with tears as she remembered that Uncle Jack was dead. She had seen him get shot and fall down, and there had been so much blood, it was everywhere, and he hadn't got up again… There was a story she'd been told about how her uncle had been killed by the Daleks and her mum had brought him back to life using the TARDIS, but somehow Beth didn't think it was going to happen again.

Courageously, she blinked back her tears, and clenched her hands into fists until her nails bit into her skin. The pain helped to melt away some of the ache in her heart and she felt a little stronger. Beth took a deep breath. Her dad was a Time Lord, and the bravest person she knew. As a Time Lord herself, Beth knew she would have to be brave so he would be proud.

The young girl pushed herself up so she was sitting, cross-legged on the bed. "Kelan," she said softly to get his attention. Her tongue sort of stuck in her mouth a bit, and she wished she could have some water.

As if attached by strings, he jerked up and looked at her. His cheeks were blotchy, his eyes were red, and moisture clung to his lashes. He looked very strange to her. She had to remind herself that this was her little brother and therefore it was her job to take care of him.

"We're going to get out, okay? And we'll go home, and live on the TARDIS, all right?"

Kelan nodded. "How? Is Mummy coming to get us?" he asked.

Beth silently said several words that would get her banned to her room for days if her father found out she knew them. Kelan looked at her with a look that made her think that he thought she knew everything. But she didn't, not really.

"No. She's not she doesn't know where we are." Beth was scornful. Their mother wasn't much use. It was her Dad that they needed, but they didn't have him. All they had was Beth.

"I am going to get us out," she told him firmly, even though something inside of her was trembling.

A beep of a disengaging lock – Tenarian, late 854th century, if Beth knew her locks – and then the door to the children's new room hissed open. A man walked in. He was tall, and had dark hair. He was sort of handsome, a bit like Uncle Jack, but not really. There was something about his face that Beth did not like one bit.

"Bethany Jacqueline Tyler. Kelan James Bradley," he said, and although he was not mean or angry, he made Beth scared. "Do you know who I am?"

Beth shook her head and looked down. She didn't like the way his face didn't move as he spoke – only his mouth.

However, she was surprised to hear a slightly squeaky voice speak up. "You're Agent Slade. My mummy says you're a bad man."

Beth was kind of mad at her brother for saying that, because he was going to get them in trouble. At the same time, she kind of wanted to hug him, because he was being brave and he was only five and his dad wasn't a Time Lord – only human.

Agent Slade's face didn't change one little bit. He didn't look angry, but Beth knew better. That was the face that people wore when they didn't want children to know when they were angry, even though they were. He was starting to scare Beth more and more.

"She's wrong," the Agent said curtly. "She is the bad person, and I have a lot of evidence here that proves it."

"No, she's not!" Beth was surprised to find that not only had Kelan had spoken, but she had as well. Because whatever else faults Beth's mother might have, she was not a bad person. Beth knew this because her dad had always said so, and her father knew _everything_.

"I would hardly expect two children to know right from wrong. Not that it matters what you think anyway. You're here for a reason."

"What's that?" Beth asked.

"I want your mother to know how serious her crimes are, and to confess. I want more information on 'the Doctor' and what dangers he presents to the universe—"

"My dad's not dangerous!"

"—then you to will be free to go. It is against regulations to hold children, but extreme circumstances call for extreme measures."

"That's horrible!"

"I hate you!" Beth's cry was overshadowed by Kelan's howl of anger.

"Yes, but you're ill begotten child of an idiot father and lying mother." Agent Slade said to the little boy.

They were awful, awful words, and Beth didn't blame Kelan one bit when he covered his ears with his hands and started saying over and over again, "I hate you. I hate you. I hate you."

"You're horrible," she repeated.

"Your opinion doesn't matter. You're just a silly little girl."

That was enough, and Beth lunged off her bed. The restraints caught her and her body was jerked sideways with a sickening pop. Agony raced along her arm from her shoulder, making her scream.

Not far away, she was aware through the pain, Kelan had stopped his chant and had started sobbing loudly for his mother – their mother. Irrationally, Beth wanted _her_ mother – maybe then it'd be better.

"You stupid little brat, you've gone and dislocated it." Rough hands grabbed her and pulled. Everything intensified for a second, and then went black.

Beth was only out for a second, her acute awareness of time told her. Kelan's wails were still strong, confirming her thoughts. The pain was still in her shoulder, like it was on fire, and her cheek was stinging.

She threw up on Agent Slade, and he swore, jerking back from her. His movements caused Beth to bang her shoulder on the bed, and she screamed again. Kelan's cries got louder. Beth joined him.

-x-x-x-

Before long, someone else entered the room. Beth, too sore and miserable, paid him no attention, until hands that were gentle lifted her back on to the bed, and laid her on her good side.

"There, there," said a soft voice, stroking her head. "You'll be all right."

Beth opened her eyes and looked up into the face of man who had green skin, purple eyes, and three arms. She didn't recognise what planet he was from. He held a small instrument to her arm, pressed it once, and there was a prick on her arm. Heat raced through her, then she cooled off, feeling better. Her eyelids felt heavy, like she wanted to go back to sleep.

The strange, new man, who she knew was much better than Agent Slade, left her for a moment and walked over to Kelan who was still crying loudly. The man held another instrument, smaller than the one he'd used on Beth, but he depressed it into Kelan's neck. The boy began to quieten slowly, his sobbing easing off to the sniffle and hitch that Beth had heard when she'd first woken. He just sat limply as the man examined his wrists and then applied something on a cloth to them. Beth watched the two vaguely. She felt like she was floating again.

The man helped Kelan to sit up, and then held a cup to the boy's lips. Beth's brother began to drink, as the man gently rubbed his back. When he was done, the cup was removed and Kelan lay back down, closing his eyes.

As the man sat back down beside Beth, she struggled to sit up, but couldn't manage without his help. He guided her to rest against his chest, supporting her with an arm. A cup was brought to her lips, but despite how thirsty she was, she didn't drink.

"Wassit?" she asked, finding it hard to make her mouth form the words clearly.

"Water, with a few vitamins and nutrients in it. Nothing bad, certainly nothing that would hurt a special little girl like you," he added, when she still didn't drink, not trusting something the stranger was giving her.

"Spe'il?"

"Mhm, not too many people out there like you. In fact there isn't supposed to be any."

His words were strange, and didn't quite make sense to Beth, but in her hazy state she didn't know how to ask him what he was trying to say.

"Ga'free?" she tried.

"That's it. Now drink up."

Beth did. The liquid was cool, and tasted a little odd, but it cleared her mouth and her thirst. When she had finished the man took the cup away, and helped her lie down again. Too foggy to concentrate, she didn't ask any more questions, and he didn't say anymore on the subject.

For a long while after the man with green skin had left, Beth was warm and comfortable, floating happily, and not worrying about anything in particular. Kelan slept on.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-


	8. Chapter 8

-x-x-x-x-x-x-  
The three of them spread the information from the files Rose had out in front of them. The Doctor had to admit to being a little impressed. The majority of the files seemed to be on Jack, certainly, but there was a fair amount of information on Rose – or Jane Doe-Bradley, as she was labelled here – nothing substantial, but plenty of speculation.

What surprised the Doctor the most though was what they had on _him_. Nothing on his previous regenerations, and nothing on his species (although in Rose's handwriting were the words _Time Lord_ _– Gallifrey _scrawled across one picture), but certainly there were pictures and information about events he'd been present at.

"I didn't know they had all this." Jack's tone was laced with surprise, but his mouth was set at a grim angle. He still looked tired and pale, but his gaze was clear, and he was steady on his feet.

In his hands, Jack held a picture of himself standing next to Rose in the early 35th century. Rose was holding a bundle that wasn't immediately apparent as a month-old Beth, unless you were aware of it. Jack was grinning in the general direction of the camera, but his eyes were in the distance. The Doctor's head could be seen behind the two.

Obviously, the Time Agents had known about the three of them, and had been following them. The thought was kind of chilling. It was one thing to know that there were a bunch of conspiracy theorists who chased facts, but quite another to have people like this on his case.

Before the Doctor or Rose had an opportunity to answer Jack though, he frowned, and picked up a file disk, turning it over. His eyebrows rose and his mouth dropped open slightly as he grabbed another file disk to examine.

"Rose." She turned towards him. "These aren't copies."

"What?"

"These aren't copies of files. I think these are the originals."

"What?" Rose repeated, looking absolutely stunned. To the Doctor their reactions seemed out of proportion to the discovery. "But that's… I mean I knew they were better quality than the ones I've seen before, but… they _never_ let anyone see the original stuff."

"Not unless you have the highest clearance," Jack agreed. "Just how high up was your husband?"

_Your husband_. The words rang through the Doctor, but he hid his reaction from Rose and Jack, who were too wrapped up in what they had found to notice anyway. The last thing he needed was to be reminded that Rose had been married, had a normal life, even for a short while.

"Not that high. He was still a field agent, but towards the end…" she shook her head. "I don't know. Slade was his direct superior, and I wouldn't have thought even that lump of—" apparently Rose couldn't find a word bad enough to describe the man who had taken both her children so she made chopping motions with her hands— "would have been able to access these."

"I still can't believe that it is Slade who is after you."

"He hates me. He probably begged for the job." It was clear that neither Rose nor Jack were Slade's fans, and there was a disgust there that ran deep. They were not surprised at what the Agent had done in pursuit of Rose.

"Surely, there's a policy somewhere about holding children without their parents' permission?" the Doctor asked, surprised and disappointed with himself for not thinking of that detail. "Most vaguely civilised societies have them. Even you apes developed them quickly enough. The Time Agents—"

"—have a number of them." Jack finished for him, nodding. The expression on his face was one of great disgust, but whether that was for the Time Agency in general, or for Teller Slade and his actions specifically, the Doctor couldn't be very sure.

"But that's never stopped Slade. Weston used to come home furious because of things that he'd done in the name of reaching a quarry. He'll do anything to get what he wants, and he always makes sure there's never enough evidence for him to be held up on it." Rose added, distress breaking through on her face.

"But taking children just to get a few files back…" In over nine hundred years, the Doctor had seen a lot, a lot of pain, a lot of cruelty, some of it too hideous for words. None of it had ever turned his stomach quite this badly before. But then none of it had been about Beth before, not like this anyway.

"Is right up Slade's alley. I don't think he'll hurt them, though."

"You don't think?" the Doctor snapped at Rose. "That's my daughter."

"My daughter," she challenged. "And my son. No, I _don't_ _think_ Slade'll hurt them. He has no reason to. Yet."

"He's after you. It's you he wants."

"So, I should just turn myself into him?" she snarled angrily. "You think that I won't? Even if it means making one child an orphan and leaving the other when I've just found her?"

The Doctor opened his mouth to snap something back. He wasn't sure what yet, but he was used to that when fighting with Rose. She had always twisted him up far too much for him to think clearly or produce logical arguments. For a human, she was remarkable good at disturbing his rational thought process. Some things would never change.

"All right you two." Jack inserted himself between them, taking over his old role of peacemaker when things got rough between the Doctor and Rose. "This isn't helping."

He paused waiting for them to relax, which they did minutely. "Slade obviously wants these files. And the ship. So we need to do what we always do. Stop the bad guys, rescue everyone, and disappear into the sunset to some beautiful resorts with some beautiful people."

"We don't know where Slade has taken them, though," Rose said sounding defeated. "He could be anywhere in time or space. I've just spent nearly two years looking for you. How are we supposed to find him?"

"Because he wants us to," the Doctor said, falling back into another old pattern, this one caring for Rose, reassuring her when she needed it. "To get what he wants, he needs us to know where he is, or at least a place to find him."

Rose nodded, but bit her lip, looking unconvinced. She used to trust him so easily when he told her it would be all right. No matter what they went through, she had always believed him. Now, there were shadows in her eyes when she looked at him.

"How will he know where to contact us?" Jack asked. "Can he get through to your ship?"

"I think so," Rose said. "He used to send us messages – threats. I ignored them and they went away after a while."

"Maybe we'd better go check," the Doctor said.

-x-x-x-

Sure enough, the message light was blinking when they arrived at Rose's ship (parked on the words 'Bad Wolf' graffitied on the ground). The last time the Doctor had seen a Time Agent's ship had been when they'd pulled Jack off his right before it was destroyed. Then he'd been too wrapped up in dancing with Rose to get more than a glimpse.

The three of them stepped aboard, and it was instantly clear that this ship belonged to a family. There were a bunch of books on a table, pictures hanging from places, and a child's jacket slung over a console chair. More than that there was a warmth in the air, something good, something happy. The Doctor felt like he was trespassing.

Rose quickly activated the communications system, typing what appeared to be a complicated password, and the message began to play:

"Bradley, I have the children. They're both safe, and if you follow my directions, I'll turn them over to Harkness and 'the Doctor', otherwise they'll go to social services in 5387, and you'll all be arrested the moment you try to get them."

A small amount of text, scrolled up on the screen telling them when and where to meet Slade, and what exactly were his terms. Rose's unconditional surrender, all the information that had been taken, along with the ship, and all relevant information on the man known as 'Doctor'.

"He doesn't ask for much, does he?" the Doctor said quietly.

"No," Rose whispered.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-


	9. Chapter 9

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

As always there were broken snatches of him. He wore two faces, and she loved them both, but it seemed wrong, she couldn't quite connect what it meant.

_They were hurtling through space, through time. Every now and again they'd hit the ground, and everything would shatter around them, broken into tiny pieces. It would not be possible to put something like that back together fully, but it wasn't so bad – they were together, always together. And somehow they were all right._

_Nothing is forever, and somehow she loses him. She loses everything. Her life falls to pieces, and she loses them, loses the pieces. You can't repair her without the pieces. It's like a puzzle. The pieces need to be there or you never see the whole picture._

_He stands beside her, unseen._

_She's seen the end of the world, and knows that no one noticed. She's seen the beginning of a star and knows that people danced. She's seen wars that begun at a word, and wars that were ended with the loss of all beauty. She has destroyed a race of evil with a single thought. She's met creatures so old that it is impossible to imagine all they've seen and done, and a baby's cry reminds her she's held life so new that it's only taken a handful of breaths. She has created life._

_Through every moment there is a face that haunts her. _

_None of this tells her who she is._

_She loves him, but she doesn't have enough pieces to know why._

-x-x-x-

Rose woke from the dream groggily. She sat up, every inch of her body aching. With painful slowness she sat up, and reached for the glass of water beside her bed. The coolness of it gave her some clarity about who she was, and where she was. A deep breath completed the process.

Dreams like that always confused her, as they crossed the boundary of who was Rose Tyler and who was Jane Bradley. Weston had often woken with her, especially at first when she would cry out, disturbed by the images thrown at her. But she had never told him about what she had dreamt, mostly because she wasn't sure herself. Her reticence had frustrated him, she knew, but he hadn't pressed the issue. He would just hold her, stroking her hair until she fell back to sleep. It was times like this she missed him so much.

Throwing back the covers, she slid out of bed, and grabbed her robe. Everything in this room was familiar, even though she hadn't slept in it for more than twelve years.

Rose giggled. The Doctor rolled over and pinned her to the bed lightly. His eyes were lighter than she'd ever seen them, and she couldn't help smiling at the joy she saw reflected there.

"_What's so funny?" he asked, looking down at her with a mock-seriousness._

"_Nothing," she squirmed a bit and enjoyed the way his eyes widened at the movement. "I just realised that without realising it, I've switched rooms."_

_He searched her face, bemused. "Is that a problem?"_

"_No, of course not. Just you'd think it'd make an impression, some kind of realisation, is all. 'Oh look, Rose isn't sleeping in her bed.'"_

"_I haven't made an impression?" he pouted, and Rose couldn't resist tilting her head to kiss his lips._

"_What do you think?" she asked when she pulled back after an extended length of time._

"_I think that it is far too early to get up."_

"_I love you," she whispered._

"_I love you," he replied, and neither of them spoke for a long while._

Rose started. She was still standing by her bed, in her room on the TARDIS. Her robe hung loosely around her shoulders. Everything was dark and quiet.She let out a soft breath of air. A memory, one more precious memory.

Before the discovery of a file on Jack Harkness, Rose had no recollection of the Doctor. She had known she had a child, but could not remember her daughter's father. A single picture of him, and she had known that he was 'the Doctor', that she had loved him, and that they'd had a baby. Slowly, she began to piece together her time with him.

Until now though, none of her memories of him had been of anything intimate. On some level she had known they had been lovers, but could not offer evidence from anything in her head. Now though…

She wrapped her arms around her waist, not quite preventing a blush from creeping up on her cheeks. Not of embarrassment, but desire. She could clearly remember just how much she had wanted the Doctor, and exactly what they had spent that morning doing, rising at lunch time to see Jack smirking at them. It took her a moment to separate the past from the present, to sort out which parts of her belonged then, and which ones belonged now.

Pushing the images back, she ran a hand through her hair, and decided to go for a walk to clear her head a little.

Initially, for today, she had wanted to travel in her own ship, but the Doctor had vetoed that idea, saying that it was still part of their bargaining power, and while Slade didn't know where it was, they still had some room to move. She had reluctantly agreed, but only after Jack had added his weight to the argument.

Under her bare feet the TARDIS hummed quietly, reminding Rose that the ship was alive. The knowledge was comforting and disturbing at the same time, because she had forgotten.

'I looked into the TARDIS and the TARDIS looked into me.'

There are too many pieces and I can't put them together.

Rose wandered without design, but before long she reached a door that read _Bethany Tyler_. Underneath, the girl's Gallifreyan name was written in her father's language. Rose knew the name, but couldn't pronounce it: no matter how hard she tried. Jack and the Doctor had painted the door two days before Beth had been born, Rose remembered. Now a sign had been added. _Trespassers will be left on Earth 200,000,000BC (even Dad and Uncle Jack). I hope you like dinosaurs._

With a soft sigh, Rose pushed the door open and stepped inside. Somehow the room had been enlarged since Rose had been there last. The bed was unmade, Beth's pyjamas were strewn on the floor, along with her clothes from the day before, and probably the day before that. On the walls there were pictures, mostly of places that Beth had been taken, and largely of Earth at various points in history. From ordinary flat 2-Dimensional images, to full-colour, in depth holographic ones, to moving ones with sound to boot. On the bedside table there were two novels, one in English, one in Gallifreyan, the Doctor had always spoken his own language to Beth, dampening the TADRIS' effects so the girl would naturally learn the language. It made sense she'd read books from both places.

The desk appeared to be several layers deep in pictures, sketches mostly, but some had been coloured. A book on Gallifreyan artists was open, with a smudge of charcoal in the margin. In the corner of the room – part of the extension – there was an easel set up, a lamp angled for good lighting, and Beth had obviously been in the middle of painting. Rose walked over the have a closer look, another book was open on the floor, and Beth had obviously been doing her best to reproduce the image from it – a forest on Gallifrey.

On the bookshelves in the corner, Rose spotted a couple of photoframes. Pictures of the Doctor and Beth at different ages. Beth and Jack. Jackie. A man with his arm wrapped around Jack, Beth in between the two. And, tucked in behind, a small one of Rose and Beth.

Rose lifted it off the shelf to have a closer look. It had been taken the day Beth was born. She'd just been fed for the first time, and had settled down, listening to her mother's heartbeat.

"Didn't you see the sign?" asked a dry voice from the door, and Rose spun, startled to see the Doctor. He was still fully dressed, but then he probably would not go to bed in the next day or so. He would make sure his daughter was safe before sleeping. Luckily for him, he didn't need it.

Rose shrugged. "I quite enjoyed the dinosaurs, even if I did nearly get eaten." Now that had been interesting to remember indeed.

The Doctor offered a wan smile. "I suppose it was one of our tamer trips," he agreed. As he stepped over the threshold and headed for Rose, he dropped the pretence, turning serious.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"Fine, just having trouble with my dreams," she told him.

"Nightmares?" She could hear the concern in his voice, and was touched by it.

"Not exactly." Both of them were quiet, and their words stilted. "I think my subconscious is sending me messages."

"Ah, yes one of the reasons I avoid the process altogether."

It was her turn to offer a weak smile. Neither of them were up to enthusiasm, especially not fake enthusiasm. The Doctor took the picture from her unresisting hands, looking at Rose curiously.

"I remember holding her in my arms, and she felt heavy and warm. I remember feeding her, changing her. I don't remember what her first word was, or how many steps she took before she fell flat on her bum the first time. I remember finding out I was pregnant, but I don't remember giving birth. It's broken, all of it, in my head. How can I remember so much, but not know anything, really?"

"The mind is a fragile instrument, Rose. It does not respond well to being wounded, and doesn't heal easily."

She closed her eyes, and shook her head, avoiding tears by hanging on tightly. When she'd woken from her coma, she'd been told exactly the same thing.

"I take it they managed to repair all the physical damage?"

Rose nodded, her eyes still shut against him, against the words, against the tears.

"So everything that is left?"

"Is purely psychological."

"Then it may return in time, when you're ready for it." Which didn't necessarily explain why she had been given back that little memory earlier.

A hand cupped her cheek, and she opened her eyes to see the Doctor peering at her, concerned. Hot liquid spilled out of her eyes, but she blinked, and no more tears fell. Right now Kelan and Beth needed her to be strong, to find them. She could not do them the disservice of having their mother collapse when they were in such a situation.

Neither of the Doctor nor Rose moved. They were standing close to each other, although, the only point of contact was his hand on her cheek. His eyes were dark with sorrow and sympathy, but the longer he stood there the more it changed into something completely different.

His eyes shifted to her lips, and she tilted her head towards him, and he lowered his to hers. Their breath mingled, and Rose felt her heart race and heat trickle up her spine.

Jane chose this moment to speak up, to remind Rose who she really was, and she pulled away before their lips could meet. That would be catastrophic, she knew. Rose turned away, taking the picture from him.

When she turned back to the Doctor, she found him looking very surprised, as if he'd been unaware of what had nearly happened between them. Rose concentrated on moving away from the moment.

"Tell me about her. Please?"

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	10. Chapter 10

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Beth woke again fully some hours later. Many hours later, if her awareness of time was to be believed. She still felt groggy and her head felt heavy, but she lay there for a few minutes, and slowly her thoughts came clearer. She sat up.

A table sat in one corner of the room, in between her and Kelan's beds. On it were two glasses, a jug of water – proper stuff this time – and on a plate some bread and pieces of orange: Earth food. The chains made it awkward but she was able to carefully pour herself some water, which she drank down, and then she ate roughly half the food.

Settling back against the wall, she bit back any tears that might want to fall, and concentrated on her manacles instead. Once, a few years ago, Uncle Jack had a boyfriend who travelled with them for a couple of months. He'd been a former thief and had no qualms about teaching an eight-year-old Beth how locks worked.

The current cuffs were unfamiliar to her. Seamlessly, they encompassed her wrists, and attached to a very fine, but very strong chain that was connected to the wall in some way. A closer look at them showed absolutely no visible join that would have been used to put them on her wrists. She was trapped here, trapped forever, and ever and ever and…

Beth bit back a scream of genuine terror. She could see herself in her mind growing old here, turning into an old lady, older than her grandmother. She would die here, and turn into a skeleton and eventually she'd disintegrate completely into dust.

Fat tears rolled down her cheeks, and she didn't bother to hide them – there was no one to see. She didn't want to die here; she didn't want to be old here. She wanted to go home to the TARDIS, to her bed, where there was nothing to tie her to a wall. Most of all, she wanted her dad. She wanted him to wrap her up in a big hug, and hold her tight.

The little girl sniffed hard, and swiped at her cheeks, then clenched her fists until she felt the edge of her cuffs bit into her wrists. Her dad would tell her to be brave, that she would be all right, because he knew how tough she was. So she would be brave and then he could be proud of her. She would be brave like her dad, brave like her Uncle Jack, brave like her dad always said her mum was.

Seláe had said that every lock could be broken, no matter how strong. So she could do this. Beth would rescue herself and Kelan and then find her way back to the TARDIS. Her dad once said that Beth would be able to find her way back to the TARDIS because she was a Time Lord and her mum had done something…Beth wasn't quite sure what…something that had made the TARDIS like her, anyway. So the most difficult part would be rescuing herself. Finding home again would be easy.

She looked back at the locks. They were good technology, far-future stuff, beyond her mum's time, beyond Uncle Jack's time, beyond Seláe's time, even. So that didn't help. They were made of some kind of metal that was grey and solid, dull coloured, almost oily looking, though it felt like any other metal she knew.

Finally she found it, a crack. It was invisible to the eye, but her fingernails caught on an almost imperceptible slit in the cuffs. All right, so they had a join, that meant they opened, but how? They didn't seem to have any keyholes or electronics, so they were probably magnetic, so she had to disrupt the energy field that bound it. Her captors probably had an instrument that could do it, but Beth needed to figure out a way.

A memory came to her of something most forgotten now, but enough of it retained for her to grasp the implications. Quickly, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small metal rod with a button on the end of it. Her eyes widened, and she wondered where it had come from, because she didn't recognise it at all. If she was on the TARDIS it might make sense because if you needed something then it would turn up, but she wasn't on the TARDIS. Maybe the TARDIS had known ahead of time, but that seemed wrong too.

Beth didn't wait to look the proverbial gift horse in the mouth, she quickly held the small device first to one wrist, then the other, and the bindings fell away easily. She wasted precious seconds gaping in surprise when it worked, because she really hadn't expected it to, before shouting at herself to hurry. Agent Slade could come back at any second, or the man with the green skin, who knew she was from Gallifrey, when Gallifrey didn't exist.

Kelan was deeply asleep; she guessed from all the drugs that they had been given. She shook him, trying to wake him up, calling to him. When his eyes opened he looked at her and started crying again. Beth sighed and ran her hand through her hair impatiently. If he was going to keep doing that, she would leave him behind. She would, too.

But she had seen him be brave, so maybe he was all right. He was only a little kid, and only a human, so she would forgive him. And he was her brother, but most of her didn't want to think about that, because having a little brother who had a different dad to you, meant your mum didn't love your dad so much. Still you were supposed to protect little brothers.

She gave Kelan some water, making him drink a cup and a half, then eat the rest of the orange. Into her jacket pockets she put his bread for him to eat if he got hungry later. When he was done, she took his cuffs off, and went back to look at the door. Tenarian, she remembered. There was a keypad by the door, and she looked at it. This kind of a lock just needed a number code, but it needed to be thirteen digits pressed at the right speed. Thinking quickly, she jammed the key to her cuffs into the keypad and depressed the button. The lock gave a scream and opened. Beth smiled – well, that worked.

In her hand, she made sure to keep hold of Kelan, because it'd be pretty dumb to lose him now, not to mention the fact that her mother might stop loving her. If she hadn't stopped already.

They crept down the hall, with Kelan sniffling quietly despite his sister's occasional glares and hisses to be quiet. The corridor was dark, with only low floor lighting. The ceiling was low, but high enough for a human male to walk through, and the walls were just wide enough for two children to walk side-by-side. Beth's sneakers squeaked a bit on the floor, not matter how quietly she tried to walk. Kelan's feet were silent because he was only wearing socks, and for the first time she noticed he was still in his pyjamas. She hoped that he wasn't cold without a robe or shoes.

At the end of the corridor, the two children paused and Beth stuck her head around the corner. It looked safe, and Beth couldn't see anyone so they hurried on. She hoped they were going the right way.

A few paces on a door opened in front of them and a man walked out. As soon as he saw them, he hit a button on the wall and an alarm sounded. Beth made sure she had Kelan in a tight grip and the two ran back the way they had come.

Feet pounded behind them, but they ran on, trying to find a way out, or at least somewhere to hide. The corridor was blank though, and Beth had no opportunity to check the doors, so she ran on, pulling Kelan behind her. Oxygen burned in her lungs, and her legs began to feel like jelly, but still she kept dragging the stumbling Kelan.

Suddenly, she hit something, bounced off it, and landed in a heap with Kelan, gasping for air. The feet following slowed to a stop behind them. Almost crying in fear, Beth looked up to see Agent Slade, his face a mask of fury.

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	11. Chapter 11

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As plans went, this was not one of the better ones that Jack had participated in, but it was more than he usually had when working with the Doctor. Of course, Jack had survived nearly thirteen years with the Doctor, so there was something to be said for the mad-hat way they usually did things. Still, Jack Harkness was uneasy, and that was never a good sign.

The TARDIS was parked in a dark corner of the warehouse that they were meeting Slade in. Hopefully, it would go unnoticed by the Time Agents during this little exchange. Seeing as the Agents were committing an illegal act, Jack figured they'd not stick around to check.

Rose walked beside him, wearing a charming, but very un-Rose suit of charcoal grey. Her face was closed, her mouth set in a grim line. She looked like she meant business. This was not the girl he remembered.

Sure, the whole willingness to put herself in danger for those she loved was very Rose, but the way she went about it was cold and clinical. He knew that she loved her children and would twist time itself for them, but you couldn't prove it by her bearing.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked her.

The plan was that all of them would come out of this, but if something went wrong it would be Rose who ended up in a cell buried deep within the Time Agency. And to be honest, Jack didn't think this was going to work so well. It relied on too many variables. Variables that Slade would be prepared for. Somehow he thought that Rose was aware if this.

"Jack." She stopped and came to stand in front of him. "If this will get Kelan and Beth back safe, then it is worth anything. My life, your life," she swallowed, "the Doctor's life. But," she took a deep breath, "I want you to promise me something. The Doctor will rescue Kelan because that's what he does. He will probably insist on taking care of Kelan, but I want you to promise me that you'll make sure my son goes to my mum."

"You sound like you don't think Kelan will be safe with the Doctor. Like he'll do something to hurt him." The words tasted bitter: did Rose really think so little of the Doctor?

"Of course not. But I know the Doctor, and if you're honest, you do too. He doesn't much care about others foisted on him – especially a child who isn't his. I love my son, and I know it doesn't matter an inch to anyone else, but I loved his father. I want him to be safe and well." When it boiled right down to it, Rose didn't seem to appreciate what she was saying either, but she obviously thought it was important to say it. That spoke to Jack more than he cared to admit.

"And if we all get out of this, will you leave with Kelan? What about Beth? You don't think her mother should be around?" This was not his Rose, not the bright eyed girl he remembered, the one who would have expected everything to work out in the best way possible. He mourned that loss.

Rose shook her head. "Of course I want a part of Beth's life – but she already has two parents who love her, Kelan has me, and only me. I can trust my mother to love him without reserve if something happens to me."

"I think you're underestimating the Doctor."

"Maybe, but when it comes to my son, I'm not taking any chances."

"I think you're underestimating me, too." At her look of scepticism, is continued on, "You just referred to me as Beth's parent. And that's true. I love her. She's more than the daughter of my best friends, more than my niece, she's my child."

"You've been more than a parent to her than I have—"

"That wasn't what I meant!"

"It's true, though."

Jack shook his head, frustrated. She looked defeated, and he wanted to do anything to make that look go away. It was an old habit, protecting Rose, but he couldn't fall out of it easily, didn't want to. He took a deep breath.

"What I am trying to say is, I love Beth; do you think that I wouldn't love Kelan?"

"It's different." Well, the stubbornness hadn't changed. Once she decided on a direction of thought, then she wasn't likely to turn from it anytime soon.

"Yeah, maybe, but that doesn't mean I won't."

"Jack…"

"Rose." He took her hands between his. "How about this: I promise you that, no matter what, I will make sure that Kelan is safe and loved?"

For long moments, she searched his face. Then she hugged him. "Thank you," she whispered.

He held her tightly for a long moment. "I'm glad you're back, Rose."

"Despite everything, I'm glad to be back. I've missed you, Jack."

Pulling back, he kissed her on the lips. "I missed you, too. Now look smart because they're here."

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	12. Chapter 12

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Slade and two agents stopped in front of Jack and Rose. Jack had the irrational urge to press Rose behind him, but she wouldn't have let him do that in the old days, she sure as hell wouldn't let him do it now.

"Harkness. Bradley," the Time Agent said.

"Let's get this over with, Slade. I want to see my children are safe before I let you take me away," Rose's voice didn't waver in the slightest. Jack had to be impressed with how calm she was. He was raging. Silently, but he was still raging.

"I want the ship and the files before I let you have your children, Bradley."

Rose glanced up at Jack and nodded. He slowly pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Slade. The Agent looked as if the paper might explode, but he opened it anyway.

"You'll find the ship at this location, 2017. The files are on board." The files on board the ship were all copies, and were an incomplete set, with blanks filling the gaps to make up the weight. They were hoping that no one would notice until they were away.

Slade handed the paper to one of the agents, who took it and left. Presumably to go and get the ship. The third agent then stepped forward holding a set of cuffs, heading for Rose.

Jack stepped forward, this time making sure that he was between Rose and danger. "Not so fast," he growled.

"I said I want to see my children, first," Rose snapped.

"Of course. This is just a little insurance. You're as slippery as your brats, Bradley. I don't want you getting away."

"What do you mean? What have you done to my children, Slade?" Neither she nor Jack had moved an inch.

"Nothing. Any damage is only what they've done to themselves."

Jack had to restrain Rose as she headed past him to attack Slade. Although he wanted nothing more than to help her beat the agent within an inch of his life, it wouldn't help Beth or Kelan.

"If they have come to the slightest harm in your care, Slade, I swear there will not be anywhere in time or space that you will be safe!" Jack snarled.

"They're fine, and they'll continue to be fine, as long as Bradley here co-operates. So," he turned a patronising tone to Rose, "be good, and your children can live out the rest of their miserable lives without their mother."

Her eyes cold with rage, Rose allowed herself to be cuffed. Jack was decidedly glad that he was not the one with the cuffs. The woman who was restraining her was nearly twice Rose's size, but even she looked nervous at the waves of pure hatred that were emanating from the blond.

Jack laid a hand on Rose's shoulder, almost fearful at what might happen. There was no visible change in Rose's demeanour, but Jack felt she got the message. Still, he didn't let go.

Slade obviously felt he had the situation under control. He jerked Rose out of Jack's grip, holding her arm tightly. Rose didn't react.

"I want you to know, Harkness, that once this is over. I'm coming after you. You've been allowed to run free for far too long, messing with time. It can't go on. You're a danger to the universe, and such dangers must be neutralised."

For the first time, Jack felt something other than anger. Namely, concern. Was Slade out of his mind? Was he that bent set on capturing everyone who time travelled, but wasn't an agent? Did he believe that anyone who wasn't directly under his influence was dangerous? Looking at the man in front of him, Jack had to reflect that it was quite probable he did.

Jack caught Rose's eye. She was surprised, he could see, but also apprehensive. He'd just promised her that her children would be safe, that he would care for them. Time Agents chasing him would restrict that. He sucked in a breath, and held her gaze.

"My promise still stands, Rose. No matter what, all right? You have my word."

She nodded, exhaling.

The agent that had left for Rose's ship was back. He nodded to Slade, "It's all there, sir."

"Very well, bring out Bradley's children."

"Yes, sir." He turned to leave, presumably to fulfil his orders, but just then Slade's comm. unit bleeped, and he indicated the agent should hold up.

Jack felt himself tense. This was not a good sign. Of course, it could mean anything, but somehow he thought it might just mean something that would ruin everything.

"What?" he snarled down the line. There was a pause in which Slade's face started to turn a very ugly shade of purple. "Secure the girl. Shoot anyone who comes within fifty feet of her."

_Oh shit,_ was all that came to Jack's mind. _Beth!_ Rose obviously had the same idea, and she pulled away from the distracted Slade, kicking out at the man with enough force to break his knee, sending him down hard. Jack was already moving, pulling his gun out, and shooting the female agent in the shoulder. The force of the blast knocked her back, screaming, but didn't quiet incapacitate her, and Jack knew that given a couple of moments she'd be a problem again.

Still it was a few minutes that could be used to deal with the final agent, who had drawn his weapon and aimed it at Rose. She was distracted, trying to battle the fallen Slade into giving her his gun, as despite his injury, he was winning – her handcuffs disabling her just enough.

"Freeze!" the third agent ordered, pressing the barrel of his gun to the back of Rose's neck. Survival instinct kicking in, she froze.

Jack brought his own gun up to point at the agent. "I'll shoot," he warned.

"And if you do, you risk me accidentally pulling the trigger," the agent replied. "On your feet, Bradley."

Rose slowly straightened up. "You don't want to do this, Thompson."

Ah, so she knew this one. Jack wondered if she knew the other agent. It would be a nice little bit of mind games on Slade's part if she did. Particularly if either of them had been friends.

"Don't I?" said Thompson. "It's because of you that Weston is dead. A good man is dead because you convinced him of your lies. Don't tell me what I want to do, Bradley."

"I never lied to Weston, Thompson. I was only ever interested in finding out who I was, and where I was from, and Weston knew that. Yeah, he was a good man, and I loved him. I didn't kill him. I don't know who did, but I'm betting that Slade here does." She kicked at the man in front of her for good measure, and against the odds she managed to send the weapon he'd managed to procure out of his hands.

"Lying bitch!" Thompson wasn't listening. He had obviously been carefully conditioned by Slade. Jack was only to aware of how good that the Agency was at mind-altering and felt a slight tingle of pity for the younger man, but didn't dwell on it. There were two sides here, and Thompson was on the wrong one right now.

A snap kick relieved the younger man of his weapon, and Jack was disgusted at the way standards had dropped. A good agent should never let themselves be disarmed like that. Rose was moving to scoop up the fallen gun, despite her restraints, but the female agent discharged her own above their heads in warning.

Even in the middle of the conflict, Jack couldn't help but be proud of the way she was handling herself. Yards ahead of these incompetents, she was already bringing the gun up to point at the female agent. Jack's own hands were filled with trying to take out Thompson, who despite being fairly useless was enraged, therefore a danger, and he couldn't give her any more attention.

He finally managed to knock the other man down, and he turned to see how Rose was coping, covering the other two agents. A reasonable job seeing as both were not too seriously injured, and were quite capable of handling a gun. She was currently stomping on Slade's head, while pointing the gun at the female agent who was slurring insults, her own gun waving slightly from pain.

Rose glanced across to Jack, but when she did, her eyes widened in shook, her face draining of colour. A slight pinch in his neck and Rose shouting in outrage and fear were the last things he knew.

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	13. Chapter 13

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The Doctor left Jack and Rose to handle Slade, hoping the two of them wouldn't get into too much trouble. In the past, Jack had either balanced out Rose's propensity for trouble, or trebled it. But things had changed, and there was no telling what would happen now. Hopefully, they would go better.

Getting in the facility where the children were supposedly being held wasn't hard work. The building was something of an office block that formed a complex with the warehouse that the TARDIS was in. Initially, he passed some dusty rooms with desks, chairs and the occasional computer that had been sitting there for a good long while. Apparently operations were closer to the centre of the building. As he moved, he started to pass rooms that stood out against the earlier ones.

This was no make-shift operation. Despite the disuse of the other rooms, these new ones, showed signs of a long settled operation. Was this a proper section of the Time Agency – then why the state of the other rooms, surely the agents had some use for them, even if it wasn't immediate? Or was this Teller Slade's private operation, where he could carry out his own missions to his requirements? The Doctor resolved to investigate once his daughter was safe and sound.

He'd largely left the Time Agents to their own selves. After all, preventing paradoxes had been once fulfilled by the Time Lords, and the Doctor was incapable of managing on his own. Incapable and largely unwilling – so he'd let them be, avoiding them as they seemed to avoid him. But if corruption was rife in their ranks, maybe it was up to him to do something. Maybe. He'd worry about it later, after he had Beth, and after he had…fixed things with Rose.

Slade, or someone else, had taken the time to improve what had obviously been a lax security system, but it still had a number of easily exploitable weaknesses that the Doctor could work with. A little messing with the locks, a generous use of his sonic screwdriver, some good old fashioned sneaking and he had headed off to find the children along the winding corridors.

He hadn't gone far when someone walked out of a room, and the door clicked shut behind him, a lock settling in place. The Doctor decided just to keep going, maybe the other being wouldn't notice. When in doubt, act like you know what you're doing. He shouldered past the tall, green-skinned Shelkyen.

"Wait," the voice stopped him, and inwardly he cursed.

"Is there something I can help you with?" the Doctor asked pleasantly. Never give anything away until you were sure it didn't matter anymore.

"You're not supposed to exist!"

"And yet here I am." He had no time for silly lesser beings who were interrupting his search for his daughter. Even if they came from an unusually talented and peaceful race – just what was this Shelkyen doing here, amongst a bunch of kidnapping Time Agents?

The Shelkyen – a healer, by the colour of his feathers, shook his head. "Your kind has been believed to be long destroyed, and today I have met two. It is no coincidence." The gaze of the alien was steady. This one could hear the beating of the Doctor's hearts, the rush of blood in his veins, and smell the scent the separated him from every other living thing in the universe. More than any, the Shelkyen knew what he was talking about.

However, the healer was clearly unready for the Doctor's response, and before he could blink, he was pressed up against the wall, his oxygen restricted. The Doctor was not violent, but this was his daughter, and she was important.

"Where's my daughter?" There was no need for them to identify who he might be referring to. There was only one being around that could fit the description. Plus it was highly unlikely that there were many children in here. At least the Doctor sincerely hoped there weren't many children, it would be infinitely worse for everyone involved if there were any number in these parts.

"Room 3-B, down that way," he said without preamble, but with a slightly husky note caused by the hand at his throat. The healer seemed to not to be alarmed by the actions of the Time Lord, his eyes looking down calmly, even with sympathy.

Suddenly, though, the pressure was released, and the Doctor took off to get his daughter, heedless of trouble that might be in the way.

"Time Lord."

The Doctor froze and turned back. The implication that he shouldn't exist had been stated, but now this being had chosen to use his title to catch his attention.

The Shelkyen indicated the door. "Do you not want the boy also?"

A long second passed until it occurred to the Doctor that he meant Kelan. He stepped forward as the Shelkyen unlocked the door. Inside, lying on a bed, shackled to the wall was Rose's son. The boy's eyes were closed, and his face relaxed in sleep. Nowhere in the child could he see the boy's mother. He almost resisted taking the boy, as dark jealousy rose in him.

He pressed it down. Kelan was Rose's, and he couldn't abandon something that was part of Rose. Deeper than that, he could not abandon a child to such a situation, as what kind of monster would that make him, what kind of beast?

Using the sonic screwdriver, he undid the boy's bindings and lifted him into his arms. Kelan settled against the Doctor's shoulder with a sigh, still deeply asleep. The sensation reminded the Time Lord so much of when Beth was younger that he almost forgot who he was holding.

The Shelkyen held the door open as the Doctor passed through, seemingly unconcerned with the fact that what he was doing probably constituted as treason. Of course as holding children like this was apparently contravening a bunch of laws anyway, the Shelkyen wasn't likely be punished should his actions become known to his superiors. Except perhaps a bullet in the brain, if he was unlucky.

Once again, the lock slid into place as the door shut. The Doctor shifted Kelan to a slightly more comfortable position and headed off, not bothering to thank the Shelkyen, who despite his help, had still been part of the conspiracy to hold the children.

"Time Lord."

He almost didn't turn back.

"Your daughter will be highly guarded. Slade regards her as a troublemaker, and is determined to keep her until he can get what he wants."

The Doctor nodded, accepting this piece of information, and maybe conveying a touch of thanks to go with it this time.

"Good luck." The words followed down the corridor and around the corner.

He was not unprepared for the agents he met, but the number of them were too many to counter with a drugged Kelan in his arms. Cursing inwardly, he turned and ran in the opposite direction, Time Agents hard on his tail.

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	14. Chapter 14

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Sirens sounded behind the Doctor as he ran, but he encountered very little resistance – everyone's attention seemed to be somewhere else. On Jack and Rose? Perhaps. On Beth? Certainly. Agent Slade had either discounted him as a threat, or not known he existed. So, the man was either arrogant or foolish, or both.

Still, the Doctor was hampered by Kelan's weight as he ran and that was more than enough to go on with. The unconscious child was just reaching an age where his weight made him a burden, and while the Doctor might have managed it in less drastic situations, it was now weighing him down.

When he reached a fire escape, he could hear feet pounding behind him. Before his pursuers could reach him, he was out the door and it slammed shut behind him. Thankfully, the building was only one level and he was out on the grounds as soon as he was out of the door. Unfortunately, he was on the wrong side to easily reach the secondary building, which was where the TARDIS was hidden. Hopefully, as yet undiscovered.

He ran on, knowing that pursuit was imminent and he'd only bought himself a few seconds. Kelan stirred against him, pulling back and murmuring a question, but the Doctor only tightened his grip on the boy. Right now he didn't have time to stop and reassure the child. They just had to keep going.

Up ahead, the warehouse that was currently holding the TARDIS appeared, and the Doctor renewed his speed, hoping to get to it before his pursuers caught up, and before Teller Slade got wind of what was happening. However, he had the sickening feeling that he might just be too late.

Inside the building, there were many dark places for the Doctor to hide in, and to lose those after him. He took the time to stop and get his bearings. Kelan was awake, his light blue eyes watching the Doctor anxiously, tears pooling in them. He didn't speak though, or make any sound. Apparently, the situation was familiar enough to him that he knew when to keep silent. At five-years-old, that was quite a bit of self-awareness he'd gained.

The warehouse was crawling with agents, all shouting orders to each other. Obviously something had happened, which didn't bode well for the Doctor, Jack, Rose or the children. He could hear a commotion a few corridors over, and nearly went and checked, but he couldn't do much, hampered as he was by Kelan. He needed to put the boy somewhere safe so he could go and make sure Rose and Jack were all right, so they could go and get Beth.

It took him a matter of moments to get back to the TARDIS, which stood quietly undisturbed, undiscovered in a musty corner. He unlocked the door and put Kelan down.

"Stay put," he told the boy firmly.

Kelan looked back up at him with wide, damp eyes and tear stained cheeks. "I want my mummy." Oh yes, this was very much Rose's child. The Doctor could hear the obstinacy rolling off the boy.

He did not have time to deal with this now. "And I'm going to get her," he told Kelan firmly, almost sharply.

"I want her now!" the last word ended on a wail.

"I will get her!" he gritted. He shut the TARDIS door with a bang, and locked it, trusting the TARDIS to take care of the boy until he could get back.

Small fists beat on the door from the inside, but the Doctor was already running back to where he hoped to find Jack and Rose.

In the room that had been set aside as the meeting room, the Doctor found Jack, pale and quiet, being loaded on to a stretcher. Some of the agents had cleared from the room, ostensibly, the Doctor assumed, to deal with Rose, who would – if she was still conscious – be kicking screaming and biting. _She always was a fighter_, he thought with a good deal of admiration and pride, despite the situation.

Gaining Jack was a simple matter of intimidating the Time Agents that held him. Apparently, they had been unaware that they were dealing with a Time Lord, and surprisingly that seemed to hold some sway with them.

Well, this certainly made the Shelkyen's actions a little clearer, but not much. Jack had never seemed particularly fazed about dealing with a Time Lord, but then not a lot seemed to faze Jack at all. Slade also appeared largely unaffected, but then he seemed the angry hating sort that wouldn't care about something as a time Lord. Deciding that dissecting the ethos of the Time Agency could wait, the Doctor quickly wheeled his friend back to the TARDIS.

When he unlocked the door, a furious young boy tumbled out, all fists and sparkling eyes. "Where's my mum?" he asked challengingly.

"Not here," said the Doctor not wanting to be confronted over this topic right now.

"You said you'd find her!"

"Get inside, Kelan," he snapped, anxious about the situation. There was no telling when the agents would decide to overcome their awe of meeting a Time Lord and revert to their orders, or even have someone come along to issue them with a set of new orders that contained the Doctor's arrest.

"No!" he really was an angry little boy right now, and as fierce as his mother had ever been.

"Get inside, Kelan!" he all but yelled at Rose's son.

The child's face crumpled and his eyes filled with tears, but he re-entered the TARDIS ahead of the Doctor and the unconscious Jack. Seeing the boy's misery made the Doctor feel horrible. He was only a child, and couldn't help his parentage anymore than any other being in the universe. His existence might not be comfortable for the Doctor, but it wasn't his fault. A nine hundred year old Time Lord should be big enough to deal with that fact.

_Move on, Doctor, or you may just find the universe has left you behind._

Once the doors had been shut behind them the Doctor turned to the boy.

"Kelan…"

But the child was off – running out of the control room, down one long corridor. The TARDIS lights flashed angrily, but whether it was because the Doctor had upset the child or because the child running around unchecked inside her, the Doctor couldn't be sure.

He turned back to his companion to find Jack staring at him with dark eyes.

"Oh well done," Jack snapped.

"Don't you start," the Doctor growled. "I'm going to find him." What was it about the boy that constantly made his teeth grit so much?

Just as he was leaving the control room, he caught Jack's comment. "Twenty-four hours back in our lives and Rose already has you spinning…" the rest trailed off into silence as the Doctor fell out of earshot.

He did not need to hear Jack's opinion on the matter. The chance meeting between himself and Rose early that morning had gone way a long to show just how he still felt about her, not only in terms of attraction, but every aspect that had made him love her to begin with. A feeling she did not seem to reciprocate one little bit.

It is unseemly for Time Lords to stamp their feet, and the TARDIS reminded him of this in no uncertain terms when he tried. She was becoming annoyed with him, he could feel that much. He still wasn't certain of how she felt about Kelan, but he doubted she was feeling quite as belligerent as he was. She'd always been fond of Rose, and was likely to show the same kind of affection to anyone with a similar DNA structure. Well, affection in so far as a time travelling spaceship was capable of.

However, finding Kelan was not difficult and the Doctor stopped outside Rose's old bedroom fairly shortly, hearing a soft sobbing through the door, which stood ajar.

"Kelan?" he asked softly, attempting to gentle his tone, hoping that it didn't sound too much like he was clenching his jaw. The boy was lying face down on his mother's bed, and the Doctor had to wonder how he'd identified it as such – the TARDIS's meddling no doubt.

"G'wa'!" was the only response. It was amazing how one response could sound the same, no matter whose lips it fell from.

"Kelan," he tried again.

"I hate you!"

_The feeling's mutual_. It took a good deal of strength not to snap back something hurtful. He had to keep in mind this boy was only five. A child, with a child's passions, but it didn't help much.

It wasn't fair, none of it. He had thought her dead, there had been no body – and he had checked, after what had happened to Jack on the Game Station, he made damn sure to check. So he'd assumed Rose had been at ground zero in the bomb blast, that there was nothing left of her to find. He'd had to raise his daughter without a mother, because he had made a stupid decision, and now in front of him was another child. Rose's, but not his. Beth had been a blessing, a miracle, but this one…he didn't know what to think of this one.

A hand touched his arm, and he jerked around to see the concerned eyes of Jack. The other man's face was still pale and drawn, and he held himself stiffly, as if in pain.

"You should be resting," he told his companion.

Jack shook his head. "I think I'm needed more here." He sat on the edge of the bed and began to gently stroke Kelan's back. "Kelan?"

"G'wa'!" repeated the young boy.

Ignoring this response, Jack kept rubbing the boy's back, and brushing his hair lightly.

"It's all right, you know, no one's angry at you—" Jack shot the Doctor a look that said it better be so— "and you don't need to worry about your mum, or Beth, we're going to find them, OK?"

Kelan looked up at Jack, his face red with crying, then quickly scurried into the man's arms. Jack pulled the boy into his chest, cradling him close, still rubbing his back and rocking gently.

The Doctor let out a sigh, he had comforted Beth a thousand times. He had made her hurts disappear, her fears vanish, but not Kelan. He could seem to reach the boy at all. Yet Jack had barely taken a second, and he had the boy's trust. Now the dark-haired man was looking up at him, mouthing that he should go.

Deciding that wiser beings had spoken, that he had made enough of a mess for one day, he obeyed.

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	15. Chapter 15

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Rose knew she would have bruises on her arms after this ordeal. It was partly her fault, for struggling so much, but she was furious. She hadn't intended for Slade to take her anywhere until she knew that Kelan and Beth were both safe, and then she would have gone quietly. Of course there would have gone her only chance of having a life with both her children, and with…with the Doctor

She hadn't known, not until she had seen him again, that he was this important to her, that she would feel so winded just by standing near him. He excited in her the need to know more about her past, about who she was, even if it was just to figure out why he had such a devastating effect on her.

Rose was shoved, unceremoniously, into a room, and the door was locked behind her. Her wrists hurt where the cuffs had grazed off skin in her struggles, and she could definitely feel the places on her arms where those bruises would arise. Bastards.

The room was relatively small. It contained a narrow bunk bed, and a table with two chairs. How many jail cells had she been in over the years? Most were murky memories, but she thought that this seemed so familiar, that there was probably very little difference between them.

This one, though, did seem to have one major difference. Right down the centre of the room was a huge plate glass window, with a gap about five centimetres wide at the top and the bottom. On the other side of the glass wall was Beth, in a room almost identical to her mother's. Looking into the other side, at her daughter there, Rose had the impression of a mirror of herself, a reflection of a different time and place.

Beth was watching her with no expression on her young face. Like Rose, her hands were bound in front of her. Rose could see what appeared to be faint tear tracks on her cheeks, though she was dry-eyed now.

"Hello, Bethany," she said softly.

"What are you doing here?" there was a quaver in Beth's tone that made Rose forgive the harshness of the words.

"We had a slight problem, and things didn't work out the way we hoped they would," Rose told her, feeling like it was pretty big understatement to be giving her daughter, but not being able to say the words '_we tried to rescue you, but screwed up big time'_. "Are you all right?"

Beth was obviously trying to be brave, and not cry, but her eyes were filling and liquid was spilling out as she shook her head.

"I'm sorry!" she wailed.

"What for?" asked Rose, what on Earth did her daughter need to apologise for?

"Because I didn't save Kelan! I tried, Mum, I tried, but I couldn't save us!"

Rose felt her heart stop for an instant as her blood froze in her veins.

"Beth. Beth!" She did her best to try and catch her daughter's attention. "Beth. Listen to me." Beth finally focussed on her mother, tears still running down her face, looking miserable. And Rose _hated_ Slade for that, for what he had done to her daughter, for taking her son, for the way that everything that he touched in her life turned to dust.

"You can't feel bad for that. What's happening is not your fault. It will never be your fault. I'm proud of you Beth, because you're being so brave, and I know your dad is proud of you too."

"But Kelan—" Beth sobbed.

"Is my responsibility. It's my job to take care of him, not yours, all right? None of this is your fault," Rose repeated. She hoped the fact that he wasn't around, was a good one, that the Doctor had at least managed to get that far.

"What about Uncle Jack?"

"What about him?" asked Rose, but with a chilling sense of realisation of what Beth must have seen as they were taking her away – Jack being taken down.

"He tried to stop them from capturing me and he got shot. Uncle Jack's dead because of me!"

For a second Rose was too horrified for words, but she pulled herself together quickly. "Oh, no, sweetie, no! Jack's fine. I promise you he's fine. He was shot, but it didn't kill him, he's fine. He came with me and your dad to try and get you and Kelan."

"He's not dead?" Beth squeaked.

"No."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

"I was so scared," Beth whispered.

Rose desperately wished she had a way of touching her daughter, comforting her. Just another mark against Teller Slade. The man had whatever was coming to him, and Rose swore that she'd make sure it was good.

"I promise you, Beth, that your dad is coming to get you. You know he won't let anything hurt you." Beth nodded tearfully, hiccupping slightly. "He knows where you are, and he'll be able to get to you soon."

"What about you?" asked Beth, she was calmer now, and scrubbed at her face with her sleeve. "Is he coming to get you, too?"

"Well, we'll see," said Rose. If it were a simple matter of breaking in, then Rose had no doubt that the Doctor would manage to get them both out, but if it was going to require more official channels then it might be a little bit harder. Beth was fine in that sense. It was illegal to hold her, and Slade wouldn't be able to for much longer with attracting the kind of attention he most likely wanted to avoid.

"Dad'll get you out," Beth told her confidently with utter faith. Rose had apparently managed to reinstate Beth's belief in her father, not that it'd been particularly well-shaken – the Doctor had obviously given his daughter good reason to trust him through the years. Rose decided now was not the time to challenge Beth's assertion. If there was a problem later, she herself was certain the Doctor could deal with Beth; he'd done well these last eight years.

"Mum?"

She couldn't even remember the time when Beth had called her that regularly. "Yes, sweetie?"

"Will you come and live back on the TARDIS?" Beth stumbled over the words, speaking them quickly, as if afraid she wouldn't get them out otherwise.

Unfortunately, there was no easy answer there. "Beth…"

"I told dad I didn't need you, because it always made him so sad to think about you, but I do need you. I _do_. And I don't want to go and live with Grandma, I want to live on the TARDIS. And I want to live with Kelan, because he's my brother. And you're my mum."

"It's not that easy, Beth…"

"You don't want to live with me?"

"Of course I do! I've wanted that more that anything! I've missed you for so long!"

"You didn't even remember me!" That must have hurt her so much, to realise her own mother didn't even remember who she was, that she was alive. Not as much as it had hurt Rose to know that somewhere out there was a child that she couldn't remember.

"But I still missed you! Beth, you and Kelan are the most important things in my life. Now I have you back, I'm not giving you up for anything."

"But you're not going to live on the TARDIS."

"I didn't say that. Beth…" she searched for the right words, "right now isn't the time to discuss this, but I promise you that once we get out it will be the first thing on your dad's and mine agenda." It was about then that Rose realised that she fully expected the Doctor to get not only Beth, but herself out.

_Damn you, Doctor. Damn you, for making me believe that everything will work out._ She thought she'd learned the lesson well. There were no such things as happy endings. People you loved died. You couldn't save everyone you wanted to. Yet here she sat, waiting for the Doctor.

Carefully, keeping her thoughts off of her face, Rose went and sat down against one wall beside the glass. After a few moments Beth did the same, sliding her fingers under the glass. Rose laid her own on top. They sat that way for a long while, Rose's fingers lightly brushing her daughter's. Eventually, though, the door to Rose's side slid open, and in walked Teller Slade.

"Hello ladies, having a nice day?" The anger in his tone was truly frightening.

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	16. Chapter 16

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"Do you know that Rose is deathly afraid that you hate her son?"

The Doctor had been quietly drinking his tea, trying to think of the best way to rescue Rose and Beth before Slade got it into his head to torture both of them, and he hadn't been expecting Jack to appear. At least not suddenly without warning. Certainly Jack was as worried about Beth and Rose as the Doctor, but he didn't generally jump out of shadows at people. Unless he was very angry with them.

"What?" he asked, struggling to process the words, while hiding his surprise. He was too old to be surprised by a human. Or maybe he was just too old. But he had known Jack a long time, and knowledge went two ways.

"Rose. She begged me to take Kelan to her mother, because she didn't think he'd be safe with you."

Well that did make sense, but it hurt nonetheless that Rose might think he was unsafe, that he could possibly hurt Kelan. Unwilling to acknowledge the power those words had over him, the Doctor chose to deliberately misunderstand what Jack was saying to him.

"The TARDIS is never completely safe. That's what got Rose killed and it's what makes Jackie harp on at me about Beth." Maybe if he dodged, Jack would leave it alone. He was smart, for a human, he might pick up on the Doctor's reticence. Of course, he might decide to ignore it.

"That wasn't what she meant." Jack was clearly in the mood to push this issue. Generally, an easy-going person, Jack had always been stubborn on some points, and those points were generally Rose and Beth.

"I'm quite sure it wasn't, but I don't have the choice right now to cater to Rose's every whim, right now. I'm trying to save her and my daughter." He pushed his cup of lukewarm tea away from him, unable to drink it, feeling edgy and anxious.

"I'm not talking about taking Kelan there now. I'm not suggesting you do ever," Jack was niggling, working his way around to a point.

"So?" Kelan would be safe – _safer_ – with Jackie. The universe would (probably) leave him alone and he could grow into as normal a person as Jackie Tyler could raise. Well, Rose had turned out all right, was it too much to hope that her mother could do the same thing twice?

"Have you thought about trying to like him?" There was that. He was sure that Kelan was a perfectly likeable person. Most five-year-olds were. And yet part of him instinctively curled back at the thought of spending a large amount of time with Rose's son.

"I don't dislike him."

Jack snorted in disbelief.

Angry now, the Doctor glared at the other man. "I don't. Whatever you may think, I don't have anything against Kelan—"

"—except for his father—"

"—it would not be conducive. However this works out, I expect that Kelan will be a part of the future. He is, after all, Beth's brother—" oh yes, he hadn't forgotten that detail— "so a disruptive relationship would be highly detrimental for everyone."

"Uh-huh." Jack's gaze hadn't wavered. His eyes were still dark with anger, his face set and determined, clearly disbelieving.

The last time the Doctor had seen the other man like this had been nearly three years previous when Jack had been announcing that he was leaving the TARDIS. He'd been back two months later, and both men had let the incident pass unmentioned since then. But the Doctor could still remember the lines of fury that had traced Jack's face.

"Why are you pushing this now?"

"Why not now? When else are we going to? When Rose is dead and you're sending both of them to live with Jackie?"

The Doctor had to keep himself from flinching at Jack's hard words. "That was unfair," he said quietly and unhappily. Still, it would solve the problem of making sure that Kelan and Beth had a good relationship and Jackie would be over the moon. Somehow, the Doctor doubted that Jack would be very impressed with the arguments.

Jack shoved a hand through his hair, and dropped wearily into the chair across form the Doctor, taking his cup and draining the last of the cold tea. "You're right," he said. "But it doesn't change anything. You look at Kelan like he's something filthy that's just crawled out of a drain. He doesn't deserve that."

Jack was right this time, but he didn't bother to wait for a follow up. Instead, he changed the conversation to being able to get Rose and Beth back from the Time Agents, who would be expecting them now. They moved into the control room, where they could hack into the video surveillance on Slade's base.

It took far, far longer than either could have expected. Eventually, the Doctor had to send the protesting Jack to bed. The ex-Time Agent was both injured and tired, and despite his protests, the Doctor was firm. There was only the two of them and they would both need to be alert to get in and retrieve Beth and Rose.

"What are you doing?" the young voice startled the Doctor, and he spun to find Kelan looking up him. The boy was wearing different pyjamas from what he'd had on when brought aboard the TARDIS. As a matter of fact, the Doctor noted with some amusement, they were an older _pink_ pair of Beth's that she'd grown out of years before. The boy's hair was a mess and he was rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

_Adorable,_ the Doctor reflected with some surprise that he could feel something so warm towards the boy. He shook it off for a moment.

"I am trying to hack into the Time Agents' security to see if I can find some video feed on Beth and your mother," he told the boy, keeping his voice even.

"Oh," said Kelan. There was a short pause. "What's that mean?"

"It means I'm trying to find a way to see if I can get the camera's to tell me if Beth and Rose are all right," he said as gently as he could manage. "Where's Jack?"

Kelan shrugged noncommittally. Either he didn't know, or he didn't want to admit he was up to something he wasn't meant to be. The Doctor decided to leave it for now. If it became a problem, he could deal with it later. He turned back to what he had been doing. Kelan came to stand beside him, thump in his mouth. The boy stood quietly for long moments, watching.

When Kelan removed his thumb from his mouth and took a deep breath, the Doctor braced himself. "Are you Beth's dad?"

"I am," answered the Doctor without looking up. While the physical security on Slade's base had been lacking, the electronic surveillance was not.

"But you're not my dad."

"No, I'm not."

"But Beth's my sister."

"The correct term is half-sister, as you have one parent who is the same."

"Our mum."

"That's right."

"Oh. Are you and my mum are going to get married?" They'd never been married and should anything change in their current relationship at any point, it was doubtful they would then either. The Doctor had never been fond of such formal bounds of human relationships, and when asked Rose had seemed unconcerned. But then she had been married to Weston Bradley, so who knew?

"Not at all," was all the answer he gave Kelan.

"Why not?"

The Doctor took a deep breath and released it in an effort to keep his temper. Kelan was a child, and merely curious, as most children were, about the people in his world. However, the last person the Doctor wanted to discuss this topic with was Kelan.

Kelan however, was intent. "Why not?"

"People generally only marry because they love each other." In the Doctor's mind, Kelan was too young to need to understand any other motivations that propelled people to marry.

"Don't you love my mum?" the boy sounded like it was some great kind of offence.

_Very much. She is the oxygen I breathe, the blood that pumps through my veins. She is my soul._ "I don't think she loves me," he answered instead. "If you get married, it should only be because both people love each other the same."

"She does!"

The Doctor's breath caught, but he reminded himself that he was talking to a very young boy, and that young children often confused the information that they had. Beth had spent the better part of her fifth year believing that the 'eye' of a potato could see her, so she had closed her own eyes every time she ate them to avoid being seen. It was a habit she'd eventually grown out of, but she had refused to believe anyone who told her that the eye of a potato couldn't really see for a very long time.

"Did she say that?" he asked the little boy very calmly.

"Yeah. She said that she loved you, and that's how Beth got born. But then when she lost her memory, she met my dad, and they were in love and got married and I got born. Did you and my mum used to be married?" he asked in all innocence, without pausing for a breath. The Doctor was none the wiser of Kelan's words about Rose's emotions, but he turned his mind to the next question.

"No," he answered.

"Why not?"

"It didn't seem expedient."

"What's that mean?"

"It didn't seem necessary."

"Oh." A pause. "Didn't you love her – but you had a baby?" It was something of a mixture of statement and question, two thoughts that had been mixed up and confused. Kelan clearly still associated love, marriage and having children together. An interesting observation from a child born in the 54th century, where marriage was still common, certainly, but not anywhere to the same extent as the 21st century.

The Doctor didn't disillusion him, but nor did he feel up to going into the complicated situation that had been his and Rose's relationship up until Beth's birth.

"People don't need to be married to have children, even if they are in love."

"Oh." Another pause, he seemed to be digesting this, and when he spoke again his voice was soft and scared. "If you and my mum get married, will I have to go away?"

For the first time, the Doctor turned to look at Kelan solidly. During the majority of the conversation he had been facing the control panel of the TARDIS and watching Kelan out of the corner of his eye.

"No," he replied firmly. "She is your mother you will live with where she wants you to, and knowing your mother, it will be with her."

"If you get married, will you be my dad?"

An extremely thorny question, and again one that was far and away more than the Doctor felt like dealing with, at least in the more complex issues of familial relationships. Ultimately, he would share no blood or ancestry with Kelan. However, they would share the love of too people extremely dear to them both. Furthermore, no matter what turn his and Rose's relationship ended up as, if she chose to live on the TARDIS – and he intended on making it absolutely clear to her that she was welcome – he would likely end up as at least a partial father-figure to Kelan. It would be unpleasant to them both and probably detrimental to Kelan's growth if their relationship was distant.

Would he, or would he not be Kelan's father? Well fate and time might know the answer to that, but from where he sat the Doctor ha no idea. And that lack of insight frightened him more than he could say.

He took the question at face value.

"If, in some distant and unlikely future, your mother and I do get married, I would be your stepfather."

"Would I call you dad?"

"If and only if it happens, we will reopen the discussion then." There was always a safe answer to every child's question. It was just a happy coincidence that he could be truthful this time, or at least avoid a lie.

"What does that mean?"

"That is time for you to be in bed."

Kelan made a face, but then yawned and nodded, fairly agreeably. "Will you come with me?" he asked, blinking innocent blue eyes at the Doctor, and yawned again.

"If that's what you want."

Kelan nodded and the Doctor turned to lead him down to Rose's old room. When they had everyone back on the TARDIS safe, they would have to reorganise sleeping arrangements at least until the sorted out the eventually living arrangements, and – the Doctor realised with an unpleasant start – custody arrangements.

To the Doctor's surprise and unexpected pleasure, a small, warm hand slipped into his own as they walked down the corridors. He curled his own, much larger cooler hand around the small fingers, strangely gratified. It had been years since Beth had voluntarily held his hand, and he missed the sense of trust it implied.

Staying long enough to tuck the boy into bed and make sure that he was well on his way to dreamland, the Doctor reflected that he no longer felt at odds whenever he saw or thought of the boy. The discomfort of knowing who Kelan belonged to hadn't completely abated, but he was beginning to disassociate it from the boy in front of him. He viewed the sensation with a good sense of relief, as he had been honest with Jack earlier. Whatever the future brought, he needed to think well of Kelan, if for no other reason that it wouldn't be fair to Beth to have to deal with his own negativity.

Back in the control room, he was surprised when it took barely five minutes to find what he was looking for. Unfortunately, what he found did not make him happy at all.

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	17. Chapter 17

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Rose stood from her position beside the glass wall. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Beth doing the same, warily. She gave her daughter a reassuring glance before fixing her attention on the man in front of her.

He was almost spitting with rage. Had he been a Liryetyrei there would have been flames coming out of his eyes. She had known him for years, and he'd always come across as a very controlled person, but now she could see the edges beginning to crumble. Rose would have been afraid if it had just been her, but Beth was close at hand and that made her terrified. Slade was a vindictive person, and not particularly moralistic outside of his quest.

Still, her name was Rose Tyler and she had a reputation to live up to. Once she'd been the companion and lover of a Time Lord. Once she'd had all of time and space running through her head, and defeated a race of Daleks, turning them to dust. Right now she was a mother, and that was the most powerful thing she'd ever been. She'd be damned if she'd let one small-minded, vicious Time Agent knock her down.

"Slade," she greeted him coolly, looking him up and down, assessing him and finding him unworthy. "Where's my son?" Rose didn't let herself waver for a second.

He didn't seem to hear her. "An interesting fact has come to my attention, Bradley," he hissed.

"Oh?" she asked calmly.

"Those files you returned to me are incomplete." And copies, but if he wasn't going to say anything, neither was she. In fact Rose thought it was better if she didn't speak at all. So she didn't.

"Where are the originals?" he barked at her silence.

Beth was standing pressed against the back wall, her face pale, obviously very frightened of Slade. Rose didn't like that, not one bit. It made her wonder what had been happening behind closed doors.

"I don't know what you're talking about. But I would like to know where my son is," Rose said, still keeping her tone even, though she wanted scratch his eyes out for whatever he'd done to make Beth so scared.

In a heartbeat, she'd been knocked against the wall, her head hitting the hard concrete with enough force to stun her. Dazed, she didn't have time to react until he'd snapped cuffs around her wrists, restraining her. Beth was yelling and pounding on the glass, and as Rose's vision slid back into focus, she could see the tears running down her daughter's cheeks.

Yet another black mark, Slade. You might want to watch out, because you're going to pay for each one. And when I'm done, I'll let the Doctor have the rest. Not that I think there'll be much left.

"Where are the originals?" he asked through gritted teeth, his nose almost touching hers. Had Rose's willpower been even a fraction less, she would have flinched.

Rose didn't bother to say anything more about her son, it was clear that Slade wasn't going to answer. She just had hope that Kelan's continued absence meant that the Doctor had got to him, and got him out. Slade was sure to use both children against her, if he could.

"You're going to have to do better than that, Slade," she told him, fighting to maintain her voice's even tone, doing her best to put Kelan out of her mind, and concentrate on herself and Beth's safety.

In response, he slapped her hard across the face. Rose spat blood beside her, hoping that it wasn't a tooth that she could feel loose. Weston had never particularly said what Slade had got up to, but Rose had the feeling some of it was torture. If there was anything else, she didn't want to know.

"I don't want to do this, Bradley, but you're giving me no choice," Slade told her, rolling up his sleeves.

Rose viewed him with a certain amount of trepidation, wondering how far he was prepared to take this. Beth, on the other hand, reacted far more severely. "Leave her alone!"

To Rose's horror, Slade's attention was drawn over the Beth. "Shut-up brat, or you'll never see either of your parents again!" Something of an idle threat as Slade probably didn't intend for Beth to see either of her parents again anyway.

"Leave her alone, Slade," Rose lisped through her aching jaw and split lip.

"And just who are you to threaten me?" he asked snidely. To her relief, he'd moved back a little to keep Beth in his sights.

"Her mother. Her father's coming for her, you know," said as much for Beth's benefit as for Slade's. "Have you ever seen an angry Time Lord, Slade? I wouldn't want to be in your shoes when the Doctor arrives."

"There are no such things as Time Lords." Well, that is interesting. Teller Slade had absolute proof of the Time Lords sitting in a cell, and he refused to believe in them. How utterly…small-minded of him.

"Are too!" shouted Beth. "My dad's a Time Lord and so am I!"

"Bethany! That's enough!" Rose said a little sharper than she intended, but concerned her daughter was going to let out potentially dangerous secrets.

"Oh very nice, Bradley, you even have your own child believing your lies. How do you sleep at night? And giving her false hope like that, how does that make you feel? Her father isn't a Time Lord, what do you say to that?"

Rose shrugged. "It's your funeral: you're entitled to your own beliefs," she said serenely.

Snarling he grabbed her wrist, hard in his hands, holding her steady. Then he grabbed one finger and pulled it up sharply, snapping the bone. Rose couldn't help the cry of pain that leapt to her lips. Nor could she ignore the scream from Beth, who must have had an excellent view of what had just happened. Unwillingly, Rose thought of trauma, psychiatrists and what seeing her mother be tortured might do to a child.

"Where are they?" he snapped over the noise.

Feeling burning hatred rise up in her, Rose met his eyes. Something flickered across his face, and Rose rather thought it was fear, but then it was gone. "Go to hell," she hissed, through the pain and rage. She wasn't going to say anything. Beth would recover from any trauma with her parents, rather than in a foster home.

It wasn't torture, although that was cold comfort more than anything. An extreme form of interrogation, certainly, and nothing that would earn Slade more than a slap on the wrist if word of his actions got out. Whatever else went on in Slade's brain, he was smart. Smart enough to avoid trouble. And smart enough to play mind games, by having Beth present during the questioning process. Highly unethical, but not a serious preach of policy, she was sure.

Faintly, in the background, she was aware that Beth was still sobbing. She couldn't see her daughter, and while she knew there was no one in there with Beth, it was still unnerving. More unnerving than anything Slade had done. Yet.

"You don't have to do this, you know," Slade said to Rose's incredulity. "You don't have to put your daughter through this. All you have to do is tell me where the records are." He kept his voice even and smooth, reasonable.

Rose didn't buy it for a second. "You honestly think that is going to work?" she asked in pure disbelief. He was mad, utterly crazy. Bonkers. Off his nut.

The comment earned her another slap, and her vision blurred grey for a moment. "This will go much easier for you, if you co-operate Bradley," he told her darkly. "If you don't, the next step is drugs. You don't want that."

No, she certainly didn't, but she wasn't going to give in either. The Doctor was a very intelligent man – genius, he liked to say – if she could just hold them off, he'd come and get her. He would come for them and then they'd be lucky if he didn't raze the place to the ground. The thought brought a certain amount of satisfaction, but also a good amount of anxiety. She hadn't been kidding when she told Slade about angry Time Lords. The Doctor was capable of terrible rages, especially, she knew, when it involved people he cared about.

"I'm not going to tell you where they are, or what you want to know, Slade," she said hearing the tiredness in her own voice.

If possible, Slade's expression grew even colder. Rose didn't like what she saw in him, and wanted to instinctively back away, but the restraints held her tightly in place. She settled for regarding him stonily

Beth was still whimpering in the background.

Without a word the Agent stood and left the room. Rose was aware she was being given some time to think about what would happen, if she didn't come up with the answers. Under whatever they decided to use on her, she knew she'd tell them what they wanted to know, probably without even realising it. She could only hope that by that point the Doctor had Beth out and was away.

"Beth," she said, trying to catch her attention. "Beth."

Her daughter looked up, tears still running down her cheeks, hiccupping. Rose once again pushed aside her boiling rage, at seeing her child this hurt and scared. It was times like this, that Doctor be damned, when she wished for the power of the Bad Wolf so she could destroy everything in her path that dared to harm her children.

"Your dad is going to come and get you, all right? He's going to take you back to the TARDIS, where you'll be safe. Do you understand me?" Rose knew that she was repeating herself, but she had very little else to offer Beth. The Doctor coming for Beth was the one thing she could be sure of, and she refused to make empty promises.

"And you!" the girl insisted firmly, yet again.

Despite her promise moments before, Rose gave into the statement, and told Beth what she wanted to hear. "And me."

Minutes later, her cell opened again, and she instinctively flinched, expecting Slade to walk in the door. However, an alien entered instead. The man had purple skin, hazily Rose was able to identify him as Shelkyen, and a healer.

There was only one person it could possibly be, and she honestly didn't know how to respond to him. Earlier, when faced with Thompson, she hadn't had a problem. She'd never really liked the man, though he and Weston had been close. Falladanu, here, however, had been someone she hadn't known well, but had respected highly, something that had been reflected by her husband.

"Jane," he greeted warmly and she winced. Jane, who she wasn't. Jane, who was becoming more and more of a false skin worn by Rose Tyler.

"It's Rose," she said thickly.

"Rose. Let me see your wounds."

"Why?" she asked, bluntly. And even after he revealed his dermal-regenerator, and released her restraints, she eyed him suspiciously. Who knew what his motives were in all of this.

"You need healing," Falladanu told her.

"Please, Mum," Beth said. "He helped me before. He—" she broke of sharply when Falladanu threw her a concerned gance.

That was interesting. Just what had Falladanu done to help Beth? Her daughter hadn't been injured, from what Rose would remember, so obviously she hadn't been in need of a healer, unless it was to counter any stun blasts or sedatives that had been given to her. So helped how? Somehow, Rose rather thought it had been more than kindness.

"Your son is safe," the Shelkyen murmured to Rose as he checked her pupils, presumably for concussion. "The Time Lord escaped with him. I believe your other companion as well – Jack Harkness."

Rose nearly fainted, as much she'd tried not worry, she had still been concerned about Kelan and his whereabouts. But her son was with the Doctor and Jack, probably on the TARDIS – the safest place for him in the universe. Well, provided the Doctor could get past his animosity. She just had to tell herself that he was not much short a thousand years old, more than capable of rising above jealousy towards a child. Besides Jack was there.

"Thank you," she whispered back.

"You're the mother of a Time Lord's child. Neither of you should kept here."

"Slade insists there is no such thing as the Time Lords."

"And yet he is careless enough to enrage one." Falladanu had finished strapping her fingers. Not healing them, she realised, just preventing the breaks from becoming worse. "That is idiocy. I remember the legends told about your husband, Rose," he said leaning closer, keeping his voice low. "May the gods help us all."

He drew back. "I'm sorry," he said. "I'm not allowed to give you any painkillers." Then he was out the door.

In her hands was a lock decoder and a small laser knife.

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	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: **A much belated present to a friend, but will now once again double as a 'get well soon' gift. I hope she enjoys it. There should be another two chapters and this fic will finally be finished. Yay.

Also a huge thanks to Kristal.

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Teller Slade would never know it, but he was very lucky that Jack Harkness woke when he did. As it was Jack was nearly too late to hold the Doctor back from going on a mad rampage. Over the years he'd seen just about every mood possible from the Time Lord, from almost bouncing with curiosity and delight, to cold, hard vengeance. None of it frightened him more than the look in the Doctor's eyes now.

Jack's first thought was, 'What's happened to Rose?' then he modified it to include Beth. It was just he hadn't seen the Doctor in rage for a long time, and it reminded him too much of the early years when Rose frequently got herself in danger, or someone tried to hurt her. This was a man who was capable of utter destruction to bring about the ends he wanted. He might not revel in it, but he would do it without a second thought.

"Let go," warned the Doctor.

"No." Jack dragged the Time Lord around and pinned him against the wall. The Doctor would be able to break Jack's hold, but not without hurting him, and Jack hoped he retained enough presence of mind to be aware of that. "Beth and Rose are in enough trouble without you making it worse."

The Doctor was extremely capable of rescue missions, especially when just dealing with humans, but the stakes were far too high to risk the chance that the angry Time Lord might make a mistake. He'd been thrown by Rose's reappearance and upset but Kelan's existence, furious at the kidnapping of first Beth and now Rose. Something else had happened, and knowing Teller Slade's reputation Jack was going to take a guess at what.

A guess that made his blood run cold, a guess that made him want to release the Doctor and follow him on the rampage. But someone had to be rational.

"I'm not letting you until you calm down," he told the Doctor. For several long minutes the Doctor remained tensed, and Jack stayed alert, ready to react. Whether it would be to help the Doctor or to stop him, he wasn't sure, despite what he might say, or even think. Fortunately, the Doctor relaxed and they never did find out what Jack would do.

"Torture," spat the Doctor as he moved back over to the console and angrily hit a few buttons to show Jack what had angered him so much.

Jack had the foresight to detach himself from the scene that followed, knowing what in all likelihood what he would see. In truth he was surprised at the mildness. Should the Agency ever discover what Slade practised, he'd be reprimanded, but little more than that, for this little scene. He roughed Rose up a bit and terrified Beth, but there was so much worse he could do.

Still, Jack understood the Doctor's rage and had to swallow down his own. One of them had to stay calm and focussed if they were all going to get out of this alive. He only wished it didn't have to be him. A little vengeance would be tasty right about now.

His grip loosened and the Doctor dragged himself free, resettling the long coat and the suit. He grimaced tightly and glared over at Jack, but made no attempt to leave the TARDIS and hunt down Slade. Jack's finger itched for a weapon of sorts a blaster, a gun or even a knife, but even an enraged Doctor would not permit such a thing to be used at all. Though to be fair the Doctor had solved many things without weapons and would continue to long after Jack was dead and gone.

Of course then there were all the times it went horribly, horribly wrong.

Jack made a mental note that when they left the TARDIS he'd have several stashed somewhere on his person.

"So," he said. "What's the plan?"

-x-x-x-

In a flurry of action, but mostly on autopilot, the Doctor sent a message to Teller Slade, issuing a challenge – one that was sure to have the human hopping; he dropped Kellan off with the boy's grandmother who was thrilled to see her grandson alive but furious that Rose and Beth were nowhere to be seen. The Doctor banged the TARDIS door on her face, and Jack didn't offer even a token protest.

And then they were on their way to conduct business, materialising back in that barn no more than a few minutes after they had left. The view screen showed Slade and his band of goons were already waiting. Annoyance and impatience were dominant on the Time Agent's expression. He did not appear to be at all nervous of the coming confrontation.

But then neither was the Doctor. Of course the Doctor knew what he was facing, whereas Slade only thought he did. He didn't believe there were such things as Time Lords, and he certainly didn't seem to think there was anyone capable of passing judgement on him. This was not new to the Doctor, many of the worst monsters he had faced throughout his long life had thought the same. Most of them, and by most he meant all, had found out how very, very wrong they were.

The Doctor always had a plan. Usually he didn't know what the plan was right up until the time came to implement it, but he always had a plan. And his plan gave him the confidence to go out and face the man who had stolen his daughter and his…Rose.

His Rose.

He strode out, chin up, giving his best impression of being the last of the most ancient and powerful race in the universe. Jack following behind and pulling the TARDIS door shut with a click. The few against the many – as if always had been, and as he was most comfortable with.

There were weapons aimed at him, but he doubted anyone would fire, or at least not until they were sure that the two in front of them were actually threats. And the Doctor had every intention of it all being over before anyone realised what kind of threat he really was. He was, after all, extremely good at that – even if he did say so himself.

"Hello," he announced the crowd. The cheerfulness was forced, a smoke screen for the rage he was actually feeling. The rage that they'd find out about soon enough.

Without much consideration, he noticed that one or two of the weapons pointed at him were wavering a little. The agents he'd had the fortune to run into earlier when convincing them to give Jack back, he also managed to convince them of his species and right now they looked distinctly uncomfortable to be facing him again.

"Slade, isn't it? Teller Slade. Something of a big shot around here? So, you'd be the one I talk to about getting Rose and Beth back – isn't that right?"

"You can have the kid when I have those files. I am willing to pardon your crimes and those of Harkness, but Bradley will stand trial and, if I have anything to say about it, serve the rest of her life in prison." The words were clipped and he displayed real distaste at the apparent thought of pardoning the crime of Jack and the Doctor.

"My crime?" The Doctor was disbelieving.

"Unlicensed time travel."

_Unlicensed time travel?_ The Doctor was fairy certain he had been shocked into silence, and that didn't happen often. "_Unlicensed time travel?"_ Or maybe not. _"Unlicensed time travel?"_ He was spluttering. "You're charging me with 'unlicensed time travel'? You and your pathetic agency are actually trying to charge _me _with unlicensed time travel?"

A number of the agents looked decidedly uneasy at the outburst. Good.

"Ah, yes," said Slade, apparently unfazed. "This ridiculous charade that you're a _Time Lord_." Definite shifting amongst the agents. "You can't obviously expect anyone to believe that."

Delusional he might be, and as much as the Doctor would like to whack the man with a 'yes, I am greater than you' speech that his last self had been so good at, Slade was a dangerous adversary.

Behind him, Jack cleared his throat. Right, time to get on with business

The Doctor held out his hand and Jack passed over the case containing the files that Slade wanted so badly, and all copies that had been made – minus the set sitting in the TARDIS database, that there was no way of tracing.

"I give you this, you give me my daughter," the Doctor said. Beth was nowhere in sight, so he held tightly to the case.

"You," Slade one of the agents who hadn't wavered at all. "Go and get the kid."

"Sir!" The agent strode off.

In the silence, the Doctor decided now was the time for a little conversation. "Soooo, why all the fuss over these files? Just a few pictures, they can't be that important. Especially, since I'm not a Time Lord." Oh, that was good, he liked the reaction he got every time he said those words, he'd have to use it more often. "And you know who Rose is – so you don't need to worry about that – same with Jack. What possible use could they be?"

Slade didn't seem inclined to answer the question, so the Doctor carried on. "You came all this way, willing to make all these sacrifices to get those files back. I mean, oh, unlicensed time travel, not a small crime that, if convicted you can get life, can't you? And yet you're offering an unconditional pardon? Tell me, Teller Slade," he finished, very carefully focusing intently on the man in front of him, "do your superiors know who you're dealing with? Because they want files on me, but they don't want me?"

That he'd realised earlier didn't make sense. Nothing really made sense around Slade, but that in particularly really didn't make sense. Or something.

"I don't question their orders," the time agent said smoothly, without a hint of irony or subservience. Of course not, because the less he knew, the more creativity he could put into following said orders.

"Do your superiors know you're dealing with me?" he asked. "With a Time Lord?" A number of guns wavered at that point. The Doctor wondered if should be worried about being shot by accident, he'd really hate to have to regenerate – though it would prove without a shadow of a doubt what he was.

"There's no such thing!" Slade did not, however, answer the first question.

The Doctor was about to continue when the agent who had been sent to collect Beth came running up. "Sir! Sir! Bradley and the kid are gone – and everyone has been drugged!"

"What!" all of a sudden a gun appeared in Slade's hand aimed directly at the Doctor.

Oh, that, that was not good. The Doctor frowned, eyeing the weapon with distaste. There was no need to point that at him, really.

"Where are they?" the lead agent hissed, so forcefully several other agents stepped back.

"No idea," the Doctor replied, keeping his voice light and cheerful, though what he wanted to do was dance with joy. Oh Rose, of his brilliant, brilliant Rose – she'd managed to get free. This changed everything! Behind him, the Doctor felt Jack shifting, getting ready for anything that might happen now, but the Doctor didn't pay him much attention – he'd worked with Jack for years, and the other man would know how best to act, there was no need for the Doctor to check on him.

"I'm right here!" called a new voice, and all the agents swung around immediately at the sound, including Slade.

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End file.
